Sand in my Boxers v2
by X-x-x-Naru-Koi-x-x-X
Summary: AU fic. Gaara has a confession to make to Naruto. Too bad Sasuke will do anything to take away the object of Gaara's affection. Full summary inside. Highschoolfic! Main; Fem!NaruxGaara Slight; ShikaxHina, SasuxNaru. Rewrite of Sand in my Boxers
1. Peaceful Bliss

Hello my dear readers! Naru-koi here, giving you SIMB v2, on schedule, as promised.

First off, I'd like to share the same warning I gave in the last author's notice in SIMB v1.

"_Make sure to pay attention to the kissing/confrontation scene, the rooftop scene, the walk home and the burn scene at the end of chapter 4. That's where it changed the most! It follows the basic story line, but after that, the story will change a decent amount."_

Indeed, Past me, indeed.

For readers who are new to the story, welcome! To past readers, welcome back!

Here is the edited, _original _storyline for SIMB. If you're new, I suggest not reading version 1, unless you need a good laugh. But now I'll stop going on about this, and let you read.

Drop me a review if you'd like, I know I'd appreciate the feedback. Was this good? Bad?

For past readers: Feels exactly the same? Or "OMFG, WHAT DID YOU DO?"

Haha. No, seriously though. No pressure, but I'd like to know if version 2 is any better. I know I certainly feel that way. Anywho. Go on you scamps, and get reading!

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**Chapter 1: Peaceful Bliss**

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A boy sat at the top of his high school's steps; headphones on and blaring. He was dressed in a black hoodie over a dark t shirt, black leather gloves, black skinny jeans with chains, and converse. His dark teal eyes - set under an Ai tattoo on his forehead - probed the grounds, watching, waiting.

The breeze ruffled his spiky blood red hair. Gaara was waiting for his friend to arrive. People walked past him, not really noticing him. He's something of an outcast here you see; with his dark attire, attitude, and bad-ass reputation. No one comes around him much anymore. It's not like no one talked to him or wanted him there. He simply did not want anything to do with them (outside of a select few), and as long as they left him alone, he didn't try and start fights with anyone. They stopped trying long ago. Well, except a few..

Speaking of which.

Gaara glanced to the side when he noticed someone standing beside him. He looked up to see a young raven haired girl standing in front of him. He pulled his headphones off his ears, and sighed inwardly. It was the Hyuuga girl, Hinata, who had a crush on him. Not that there was anything wrong with her. She never really even talked to him. He looked her over. This morning she was wearing a light purple halter, and black capri's, and black flats. He supposed she was cute, and with her short black-blue hair, and lavender eyes; she stood out from a crowd. She was just so.. quiet. He looked up at her.

"Yes Hinata?"

She blushed. "I ... I was w-wondering if you've seen Naruto yet today." He regarded her expression for a moment. She seemed a bit hopeful.

"Not yet. She should be here soon though." Hinata's face fell slightly. Gaara assumed she needed to talk to Naruto about something important.

"Um, yes, t-thank you Gaara san." She bowed slightly before turning away, and heading for the school entrance. Gaara followed her with his eyes. He called out to her just before she reached the doors.

"Hinata?" She stopped.

"Yeah?" She asked turning slowly to face him. He gave her a small smile.

"Please just call me Gaara like Naruto does," he said quietly, "there's no need for all the formality." Hinata blushed deeply.

"A-alright, thank you Gaara kun." She turned quickly and fled into the school, not looking back.

He sighed. He sympathized with her, seeing as she grew up in a really traditional family setting, and was taught to give people the utmost respect they deserved, but she should know by now it was okay for her to just call him by his name.

Gaara turned back to watching the front of the school yard, wondering if he had just made a mistake encouraging Hinata to refer to him without the honorific. Would she see it as him accepting her as a good friend? Or would she assume he liked her now? He didn't need a problem such as that at the moment. It was bad enough he was in love with a girl who was oblivious to every move he made on her. He sighed audibly, and ran a hand through his hair.

He was in love with his best friend. He's been in love with her for as long as he could remember. As long as she was by his side, he was right with the world, or at least, that's how it felt. He was fine with her being friends with other guys, he just didn't want her to date anyone that wasn't good enough for her.

He chuckled darkly under his breath to himself, scaring a few passing students. He rolled his eyes at them, and went back to his thoughts.

Okay sure. He freaked out on a few guys for wanting to go out with Naruto. He had to kick a few asses now and again to get his point across, but really.. who's counting? Naruto was oblivious to everything, and just thought it was odd when guys didn't seem to find her "date-able." He felt bad, extremely bad, that day last year when she approached him with the fear that she had been doing something wrong, or wasn't physically attractive. He'd managed to convince her she was fine, and get away with keeping his feelings a secret.

That's not even taking into account the fact that people started avoiding her when she was with Gaara.. and avoiding Gaara in general. But it was high school after all. People get isolated, people become popular. People get picked on, and people get worshipped. Give and take, it's how it worked. As long as they kept their mouths shut, and their hands to themselves, Gaara didn't really care who hung out with Naruto, and who refused to approach him.

Anyways, where was Naruto? Gaara glanced around. There weren't many people outside anymore. It must be close to homeroom. He looked over towards the front gates, in time to see Naruto come running through, headed straight for him. She caught sight of him on the steps, and waved.

"Morning Gaara!" She yelled out to him. His eyes warmed at the sight of her. He raised a hand in a wave, and stood. He watched as Naruto approached him, running up the stairs. His eyes widened though, when he realized she had no intent of stopping. He had enough time to brace himself - a bit - but it wasn't enough. She jumped from three stairs away, and he stumbled back as he caught her, falling onto the cement. As his arms were busy keeping her from hurting herself when they fell, _he_ took the full force of the impact.

The wind was knocked out of them for a second, and Naruto recovered with a moaned "Shit.." Gaara tried to move and groaned.

"Ouch, fuck. Naruto, you idiot ..." He grumbled as he winced, trying to move his shoulder. Naruto opened her eyes, concern and pain laced in her expression as she looked own at him.

"Oh! I'm so sorry Gaara! I didn't.. think." She looked away, ashamed that she'd hurt him. She tried to getting off him, to no avail. "Uh, Gaara you can let go now.." He looked up at her, realizing his arms were still locked tight around her.

"Oh, sorry." He let go, and she stood up.

"Ow, remind me not to do that again." She said, brushing the dirt off herself carefully. He rolled his eyes as he pushed himself up.

"No problem." He stood gracefully, wincing slightly at the pain in his back. He stretched himself out, back cracking loudly. Naruto winced.

"Ouch." He raised a non-existent eyebrow, as if to say 'no kidding?'. She raised her hands defensively.

"I get it, I get it ... my bad" He chuckled at her expense.

"It's alright Naru." She sighed, and bent down to gather the things that spilled out of her bag. He looked her over. Shaggy blond hair to her shoulders, and a fringe of hair falling into her eyes. Black leather jacket that came mid torso, covering a tight, midnight blue t shirt with a pink skull on it. A black skirt with black leggings, and pink converse. Her beautiful blue eyes were outlined with a thick black line of eyeliner. He took in her beauty for a long moment, and then as she stood, he smirked.

"No orange? What's wrong with you today Naruto?" He asked, his voice full of mock worry. She shook her blond bangs out of her eyes, and winked.

"Oh, there's orange alright." Gaara chuckled, shaking his head to rid himself of images of lacy things.

"Didn't need to know that." She stuck out her tongue.

"You love it." She said, hiding a smile and grabbed his hand. "Come on! We're gonna be late you slowpoke!" He sighed, letting himself be dragged along.

"You do realize _you_ are the reason we're late almost every day?"

She made a face at that comment. "You do realize you could come pick me up for school sometimes ... Or you could just head to class yourself," she said in a know-it-all voice.

Gaara smiled slightly and shook his head. "I wait for you to make sure you get to class on time ... or at least close to the right time." Naruto laughed, a simple carefree sound that pleased Gaara.

"Anyways. I want you to come over after school. Kyuu chan said to tell you she misses seeing you in the mornings." At this comment, Gaara actually looked worried for a moment. Naruto gave him a pitying glance. "I swear, Kyuubi isn't gonna try anything this time, she got herself a new boyfriend." A look of relief washed over Gaara's face. His face quickly emptied of emotion a moment later when they entered the classroom. No need to ruin his reputation, of course.

Naruto watched his face change, and screwed up her own face in distaste.

"You know, I wish you wouldn't cover yourself up like that Gaara.." She muttered, quietly so only he would hear. Suddenly they were interrupted.

"Naruto chan! I was looking for you!" They looked up to see Hinata making her way over to them. Naruto smiled.

"Good morning Hinata!" she said cheerfully. Gaara slipped his hand away from hers as the girls embraced. He made his way to the back of the classroom, weaving though students. He felt no need to intrude on their conversation. Hinata seemed disappointed that he walked away, but resumed talking to Naruto with vigor.

A few moments later, she and Naruto came and joined him. She usually sat at the front with Kiba, Shino, and that annoying blond.. Ino-something.

"Gaara san?" She caught his expression, and backtracked sheepishly. "Gaara kun, would you..? Hinata trailed off quietly, looking away. He just looked at her curiously, glancing at Naruto. Naruto watched them, nudging Hinata when she didn't respond. Gaara raised a invisible eyebrow. Naruto sighed, irritated at something, and leaned over to whisper in Hinata's ear. Hinata blushed very deeply at that. She looked at anything but Gaara.

Gaara sighed. This is what he was afraid of. He felt stupid for encouraging her when he'd have to let her down. He stood, and held a hand out to Hinata. She looked up at him confused.

"Could I talk to you in a more private place please, Hinata?" She blushed and looked towards the front of the classroom. The teacher wasn't here yet. Naruto smiled, knowing what she was thinking.

"I'll cover you guys if he comes, okay?" Gaara nodded, and pulled Hinata gently out of the classroom, getting odd looks from various students. He pulled her down the hallways, and into a deserted corridor. He then stopped and turned to her. She blushed and looked away. After a moment of silence, she spoke. "Y-you wanted to say something, Gaara kan?" He gave her a kind look.

"It's _you_ that wanted to say something Hinata. What was it?" She blushed and looked away.

"I-it's nothing ..." She tried to turn away, but he caught her hand turning her back to him and pulling her closer. He turned her to face him. He met her eyes for a moment, then he looked away and sighed deeply.

"Hinata. You can tell me anything, you know that, right?" She nodded slightly, and looked down. They were silent for a moment, and when it looked like she wasn't gonna confess anything, he spoke up.

"Hinata ... there's something you need to know." Her breath caught in her throat, and he winced slightly. "You see, I know you like me, but I can't return your feelings." She looked crushed at that, but didn't cry or turn away, so he took it as an okay to go on. He put his hand on her shoulders and leaned down a bit to meet her eyes. "I know this is a bad time, but could I confide something to you?"

She was quiet for a moment, then looked up at him slowly. "Wh- what is it?"

"I -" He stopped for a moment, not sure how to say it. "It's not that I don't like you. You're a sweet, kind girl. I hold a lot of respect for you. I'm just ... in love with someone else." Hinata looked thoughtful for a bit, before she smiled sadly.

"I thought so.. It's Naruto chan isn't it?" He froze for a moment. She laughed weakly. "Don't worry about it, I just had a feeling. She doesn't have a clue."Gaara breathed a sigh of relief.

"I kinda wish she knew though." He said, letting his hands drop. Hinata frowned.

"Why haven't you told her?" Gaara sweat dropped and looked away. He fidgeted, and dropped his voice to a whisper.

"I ... don't wanna ruin our friendship." Hinata smiled sweetly.

"That's really sweet." Gaara smiled faintly at her. Hinata watched him for a moment. He looked up to see her staring at him thoughtfully.

"What?" Hinata gave him a small smile.

"I-I could ... find out if she l-likes you." Gaara blushed. He flailed his arms defensively in front of his face.

"No, don't worry about it Hinata! I'm fine. I'll just ... tell her myself ... just, I'm just waiting for the right moment." He mumbled the last part, turning away from her. She laughed lightly, leaned forward quickly, and kissed Gaara on the cheek.

"You are so cute Gaara kun. You better be careful with Naruto though ... She won't stay single forever." She said blushing. "Hurry up. We must get back to class, Kakashi sensei will be arriving shortly." And with that she smiled at him lightly before she turned and walked back down the hall towards the class, leaving Gaara standing alone.

He stood in quiet contemplation. A light blush grazed his cheeks, a hand raised to his face where she kissed him. He shook his head. Hinata had a point. He needed to let Naruto know, and quickly before she's snatched up by another guy. He frowned. Yes ... that would be very bad. He then turned and followed Hinata back to class, her words echoing in his head over and over.

_"You'd better be careful... She won't stay single forever..."_


	2. Bliss: Interrupted

Chapter 2: Bliss: Interrupted

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Gaara walked mostly unnoticed into the classroom, seeing as most students were talking amongst themselves quietly or finishing homework last minute. Kakashi always started the lesson after all the assignments were on his desk, sometimes wasting half a class period as he let someone finish. He rarely cracked down on them, but when he did, they knew to listen. Because of this, a lot of teachers thought he wasn't hard enough on them, and he often had conferences with the principal.

He glanced towards the teacher's desk, and saw Kakashi was already here. Kakashi looked up at him, and nodded his head towards the classroom, subtly motioning for him to take a seat. Gaara rolled his eyes. That man was one of the oddest teachers they had in this school. With his silver hair that stuck up almost unnaturally, the black scarf he always wore that covered the bottom half of his face, and the casual dark sweaters and jeans; he was quite a sight to see. It was easy to see why more then half the female population - students and teachers alike - were crazy over him. He had his feet propped up on the desk, and was reading his usual porn novel.

Gaara turned and headed for his seat, shaking his head. '_Shouldn't he be banned from that during school hours?_' He looked towards his seat in the corner, and was greeted by the top of Naruto's head. She had fallen asleep again. "Idiot.." Gaara mumbled as he tapped her sharply on the shoulder as he walked by. She sat up quickly, startled.

"No! The monkeys are trying to steal my toothpaste!" Naruto yelled, looking around frantically, half asleep. The class went completely silent. Even Kakashi looked up from his book, and Gaara had stopped mid step. The classroom was silent for a minute.

"Uhm.. Toothpaste..?" Someone asked their friend quietly. Snickers broke out, soon escalating into laughter. Naruto blushed, dropping her head to the table. She turned her head to see Gaara avoiding her eyes, looking slightly guilty. She was silent for a moment, and then narrowed her eyes.

"It was you, wasn't it? You woke me up?" She said, grinding her teeth. A flash of fear was apparent in Gaara's eyes for a moment, but his face was calm.

"Yes.." He said cautiously. She glared, then huffed and turned around in her seat. Gaara was silent for a moment as Naruto fumed. He leaned forward in his seat. "Naruto… Are you seriously mad?" Gaara asked quietly. Naruto snorted.

"No, I just _love_ being humiliated, and I'm deciding to show my 'love' by ignoring you." She spat harshly. Gaara frowned.

"I'm sorry Naruto... I didn't mean to-"

"Sabaku san? Did you hear me?" Gaara looked up quickly. Kakashi was standing to collect a paper from someone in the front row before turning and looking in Gaara's direction.

"Sorry Kakashi sensei, I didn't catch that.?" Kakashi smiled.

"Would you please stop pestering Naruto, come to the front and read aloud from the text?" There was a barely concealed laugh from a few seats over, but when he glanced to the side, no on was looking his way. He pulled himself out of his seat.

"Of course, sensei." He sighed. Gaara walked to the front slowly, grazing Naruto's arm with his fingertips as he walked by as a gesture of apology, and moved to the front of the classroom. He took the textbook from Kakashi, and turned to the class, cleared his throat and began. He was about three words in, when there was a knock at the door. Gaara twitched, and turned to Kakashi glaring, who raised his hands defensively.

"I had no part in this." Laughter broke out in the classroom, even Naruto giggled at his expense. Kakashi stood, and opened the door. He stepped aside, and Tsunade walked in.

"Why, to what do we owe this visit, my lady?" Tsunade rolled her eyes at him.

"Shut it Kakashi," and then turned to address the class. "I have an announcement; you will be joined by a new student today. His name is Uchiha Sasuke, and his family has donated a very handsome sum of money for our school in thanks for accepting him so late in the school year. We needed this money, so keep you fists to yourself, and your mouths shut, you trouble makers, or it's a months detention. Ya' hear?" The class nodded attentively.

"Yes, Tsunade sensei." They chorused. She then nodded, and handed Kakashi a small bundle of papers, and mumbled something to him, then stepped back and motioned to the doorway. The class grew silent as they watched Sasuke enter the classroom. As soon as he was in view for majority of the class, there was a mass of thump's as basically the female population of the class fainted, and or sighed, muttering about how 'dreamy' the new guy was. Gaara's eyes flickered to Naruto in the back, and sighed quietly in relief as she was still upright in her seat. His eyes narrowed when he realized she hadn't fainted or anything, but she was staring at this 'Uchiha'.

He didn't like this.

He glanced towards the boy. He was nothing special. Spiky blue-black hair, deep black eyes, black leather pants, and a dark blue button up over a white muscle shirt. Not to mention the silver chains around his neck and dress shoes... all in all, his outfit was just plain expensive looking. He snorted, 'Rich bastard.' Sasuke glanced his way, and raised an eyebrow at the redhead, taking in his appearance before responding.

"Got a problem, psycho?" Gaara gritted his teeth and Uchiha smirked at him.

"Shut up Uchiha." Gaara spat, clenching his fists. Tsunade turned and glared at them.

"Uchiha! Sabaku!" Gaara's eyes shifted to Tsunade's quickly. She motioned for him to take a seat. "Please return to your seat" He muttered quietly so only Sasuke could hear.

"Watch your mouth you bastard." Sasuke growled.

"Hn.."

"Sabaku san! You heard me, didn't you? To your desk now, please." Tsunade ordered. Gaara grimaced, and walked back to his seat. 'Damn rich bastard... This is just what I need." He sat down behind Naruto, and she turned, watching him as he walked by and sat down. She looked at him with concern.

"Are you okay Gaara? You look-"

"Uchiha will now introduce himself to you, as I have work to attend to." Tsunade said quickly, nodding to both Sasuke and Kakashi, and started walking out of the room. At this Naruto made the motion for drinking and winked at Gaara. Suddenly a chalkboard eraser flew into the back of Naruto's head, making a satisfying 'thunk!'. Laughter broke out across the classroom as Naruto turned and made a face at Tsunade who glared at Naruto, shaking a finger at her.

"Watch it Uzamaki, or it's detention, 'ya hear me?" Naruto waved her off.

"I gotcha, old lady. Get outta here already!" Tsunade narrowed her eyes and Naruto waved to her cheerfully. Gaara laughed at their antics quietly.

He loved watching them interact. Tsunade is in fact a distant relation to Naruto, and was the one who funded Kyuubi and Naruto's education after their parents passed away. She was close to them in reality, but Tsunade was a no-nonsense principal, so it was hard to tell sometimes if they even liked each other.

Naruto smiled after Tsunade left, guessing as to why Gaara was laughing, and then flicked her eyes back to the front of the class. Gaara sighed, and looked up to hear what the boy had to say. Sasuke stared down the class, with a bored expression on his face.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I am second-in-line heir to the Uchiha fortune. I have one brother." He gritted his teeth, "Who does not live with me at the moment, I live alone. I have few interests; mostly collecting rare items. Anything else you may want to know, you don't need to know, so don't bother asking." He finished quickly, glaring at the class.

The class was hushed for a moment, and a few of the girls who had regained consciousness were cowering in their chairs. Kakashi moved forward, placing a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, who tensed visibly at the contact.

"Thank you, now sit down in an empty desk, and the rest of you get back to work." He handed Sasuke a textbook, "Chapter 5, Page 236; Questions 1 through 20."

Sasuke shook off his hand, threw Kakashi a, 'Thank you sensei' and walked to the corner of the classroom right beside the door and sat down, pulling out his notebook.

Soon enough quiet whispers broke out in the class, not that Kakashi really cared. Naruto turned around to face Gaara. She gave him a puppy-dog look. Gaara looked at her for a moment confused, then his eyes widened in realization.

He rolled his eyes and murmured, 'Dummy,' and angling his page so she could see. now he could run through the questions with Naruto. She pouted, but took the help anyway.

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All too soon, the bell rang. Hinata made her way over to them, as she waved goodbye to Ino, Kiba, and Shino. She smiled at them.

"Off to math?"

Naruto grinned, shouted a happy, 'To math!' as she pumped her fist in the air.

"Ah, Yes! One more class until my spare!" Naruto said, as she motioned for Gaara to walk ahead of her, as she picked up her bag, stuffing her textbook into it. Gaara rolled his eyes and sighed.

"What do you need a spare for again?" Naruto tried to look innocent, and failed.

"For studying, silly!" She laughed and winked at him.

"Pfft, You just want an extra long lunch." He said, walking out the door. She frowned, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Yeah, and what if I do…?" Gaara rolled his eyes and called back to her.

"It's nothing to me, I'd just rather you didn't waste your valuable time stuffing your face when you could be actually be studying." He sighed, "It's bad enough I have to tutor you in so many classes, you could at least do some work yourself" He trailed off as Hinata prodded his arm. He paused, looked at her, "Yeah Hinata?" She blushed.

"Uhm, Naruto isn't following us…" He turned to look, and sure enough; Naruto was not in the hall behind them.

"Naruto?" he called out, confused. He looked at Hinata for a minute, waiting for Naruto to show. She didn't. He stood for a moment, debating what to do, then motioned for Hinata to follow him as he walked back towards the classroom. "Come on." He stepped back into the classroom, only to freeze.

Uchiha.

He had Naruto pushed against the edge of a desk, an arm on either side of her, trapping her, as he leaned towards her. She was pushing on his arms, trying to get him off her. Just when he started pulling back, and Gaara was going to charge in and demand what the hell he was playing at, he surged forward and kissed Naruto. Her eyes widened, and she renewed her fight. Gaara stood there stunned for a second, that this 'Uchiha' actually dared to harass his Naru!

Gaara started growling loudly, and went to move forward. The only thing restricting him from losing all control and bashing the back of Sasuke's head in was Hinata's hands holding onto his arms, pulling him back. She's surprisingly strong, he noted.

"Stay calm please, Gaara kun." She pleaded. Naruto broke the kiss then, jerking her head back suddenly. ""Gaara!" She gasped. Gaara blinked, surprised at her anguished tone, but resumed his glaring at Uchiha. She looking at them at that moment, caught Gaara and Hinata's expressions, and looked back at Sasuke, eyes wide. "Oh my god.." She gasped, pushed Sasuke away quickly, hard enough he almost stumbled.

"I'm sorry!" She sobbed out as she shoved past Gaara, hiding her face, and ran down the hall. Gaara was torn for a moment. He then turned to Sasuke, his face pulled back into a snarl, his hands clenched into fists, trembling with his anger.

"What the fuck was that Uchiha?" Sasuke smirked, an evil glint in his eye.

"Nothing of any concern to you. Just showing her what she has to look forward to." He said cryptically. Gaara tried to shake Hinata's hands off of him.

"Let me go Hinata, just look at him, he's just waiting for this." She shook her head, even though he couldn't see.

"You can't fight him! You heard what Tsunade said! Come on Gaara, think of Naruto." Gaara paused in his struggle, but snarled as Uchiha looked interested in their conversation.

"So you three are close?" He asked, seemingly innocent. Gaara saw right through it though and flipped him off.

"Keep your hands to yourself you pig!" Uchiha just raised an eyebrow. Students then started piling into the classroom for next period, some giving Gaara and Sasuke wary looks. Kakashi was suddenly between them, with a kind face but a serious look in his eyes.

"Do we have a problem here, boys? Anything you need help with? I'm sure Tsunade would be glad to help." He said in a warning tone. Gaara growled.

"No! I was just leaving." He then shot Sasuke one more icy glare and grabbed Hinata's hand and pulled her into the hall. "Come on. Let's go find Naruto."

Sasuke just smirked and left, leaving a concerned Kakashi standing in the doorway, staring after them.

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Naruto ran down the hall in a daze, pushing past students, her face hot with anger and embarrassment. She soon stopped by an unused stairway, pushing open the door and slamming it shut behind her. She paused for a moment to toss her bag on the ground angrily, before collapsing at the bottom of the steps, leaning against the wall. Tears stung hers eyes as she thought back to the scene in the classroom before Gaara and Hinata walked in..

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_Gaara rolled his eyes and sighed. "What do you need a spare for again?"_

_Naruto tried to look innocent, "For studying, of course!" and winked at him._

_"Pfft, You just want an extra long lunch." He said, walking out the door._

_Naruto followed Gaara and Hinata towards the door, after swinging her bag over her shoulder. "Yeah, and what if I do?" She called to them and frowned. _

"_It's nothing to me… I'd just rather you didn't_…_" Gaara's voice trailed off as he continued down the hall. 'He'd rather I didn't waste what?' She sighed, and headed towards the door, only to be pulled aside before she was even 5 feet from the door. _

"_What the hell-" she yelled out, before a hand was placed over her mouth. _

_Sasuke was standing in front of her. She blushed. 'Damn, he is so hot…' She looked around, the classroom was empty. "What do you… Uhm… Oh." He was suddenly very close, his hands on her waist, pushing her back against a desk. He trapped her there, as his hands moved to grip the edge. She blushed darkly at this. _

"_Uchiha! What are you doing?" She looked at him a little fearfully as he pressed himself closer to her. He looked deep into her eyes, and they hardened slightly when he saw she wasn't blushing like he'd expected. He narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly._

_"Call me Sasuke." She frowned, and placed her hands on his forearms, trying to put some distance between them._

"_Okay, 'Sasuke'.. What are you doing? I gotta catch up with my friends. Can you let me go?" He sighed and leaned back a little, and she felt relieved that he was backing off. He stilled suddenly though and muttered something under his breath before quickly leaning forward, grabbing her chin and forcing a kiss on her. Hr eyes widened, and she tightened hr grip on his arms, trying to push him off. She felt his tongue press on her lips and freaked out, closing her eyes and pushing on him with force, determined to not let him win. _

_Through her panic she heard a worried voice; "Stay calm please, Gaara kun.." _

_Her eyes snapped open, pulled back suddenly shocking Sasuke enough to loosen his grip. _

"_Gaara!" She gasped. Sasuke smirked at her. She looked to the side, seeing Gaara and Hinata there. Hinata looked confused and worried, and was holding back Gaara. Gaara was leaning forward, his face furious, glaring at her and Sasuke. He looked about ready to start tearing heads off. _

_Her eyes widened and she looked back to Sasuke, realizing what it must look like. She gasped, "Oh my god…" Tears welled up in her eyes as she pushed Sasuke away from her "I'm sorry!" She sobbed out, pushing past whoever was in her way, running from the room. _

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She tangled her fingers into her hair and pulled tightly, wincing at the pain. "Why didn't I push him away sooner? And Gaara… I don't even want to know what you think of me now." She whispered to herself. She whimpered. She felt so torn, and didn't know how to face Gaara or Sasuke after this. Naruto sniffed before breaking her resolve to keep her quiet and put her head in her hands and cried.

"God, I am so stupid!" She wailed through her sobs. She heard footsteps in the hall outside the stairwell, but ignored them. It wasn't until she heard the door open up that she looked up. She stared up into the face with such regret, it nearly broke their heart.

"Are you okay, Naruto…?"


	3. Confrontations

**Chapter 3: Confrontations**

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Gaara and Hinata walked out of the classroom. Gaara pulled her down the hall, muttering dark curses under his breath that Hinata wouldn't dare repeat. As they walked the expression on his face darkened, every room they checked and found empty, his walked faster, growled more. Hinata winced as the grip on her wrist tightened.

"G-Gaara-kun! S-stop, you're hurting my hand!" Gaara paused midstep and looked at Hinata. She glanced down at his hand around her wrist, and his eyes widened and he yanked his arm away.

"Sorry Hinata.. I wasn't thinking.." He looked away from her. She smiled lightly, and nodded in understanding.

"It's alright, I'm worried too. I ha-have no idea where she t-took off to. Maybe she just went home..." Gaara stopped and sighed, pinching the bridge between his eyes.

"No, she wouldn't have gone home.. I know Naruto, and thats not what she'd do. She's just hiding somewhere.."

Where the hell did she go? He had been thinking of every place he remembered she liked to hang out, and most of them they'd passed as they ran through the halls. He just didn't understand why she'd run off in the first place. It wasn't like he was mad at her. It was obvious that Uchiha had forced himself on her. That Uchiha was trouble. Gaara wouldn't doubt if he would try attempting to kiss her again soon..

"-ou okay..?" Gaara looked up quickly. Hinata was looking back at him expectantly, her violet eyes wide with concern.

"I'm sorry Hinata, what did you say?" She smiled tentively.

"You w-were, uh, growling. I was asking if you were okay.." Gaara sighed, tipping his head back, running his gloved fingers through his blood red hair in aggitation. That damn raven was causing more trouble then he was probably worth, damn bastard.

"Yeah, just annoyed. I was thinking I wish I knew where she was."

"M=maybe we'd find her if we split up." Gaara ran a hand over his face.

"I guess thats the best thing to do now. Just make sure you don't go to class too late. I'll find her, it's gonna be fine." He mumbled. Hinata nodded.

"I'll take the down stairs and the cafeteria, and you check the upper level and the roof top." She stated calmly. She put a hand on Gaara's shoulder, "She'll be okay." Gaara shook his head.

"If he keeps this up, Uchiha won't be."

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Hinata walked down an abandoned hallway. She knew it was a long shot, there wasn't even any classes going on on this side of the building. Maybe that's why she'd be here then? Hinata sighed and ducked her head into a classroom. Nothing. She frowned, and paused as she heard something. She leaned back out into the hall, and cocked an ear to the left. Her eyes widened. She could definately hear someone crying. She took off down the hall, pausing in front of an unused stairwell. She pushed the door open, and saw Naruto collapsed at the bottom of the steps. Naruto looked up, startled at Hinata, before the tears started welling in her eyes and she looked ready to break down again.

"Are you okay, Naruto…?"

Naruto looked up at her, tears streaked down her face. She looked at a loss for words, only terrified at what Hinata may say. Hinata sighed and sat down next to her, putting an arm around her. Naruto sniffed, muttering something about being an idiot.

"It's okay Naruto chan. It's fine, I promise" She said, and rubbed Naruto's back as she sobbed. Naruto scoffed at that, and hiccoughed before speaking.

"I-I was.. It wasn't my fault.. He won't b-believe that.." Naruto broke into sobs again. Hinata tried to do her best to comfort her.

"Naruto, really now. Do you really think Gaara is going to hate you for something Uchiha-san did? He's only furious because he cares about you so much. You can tell by looking at Uchiha that he's trouble, Gaara knows it wasn't your fault.." Naruto only looked at the ground. Hinata tried to speak again, but paused as Naruto whispered something.

"What was that Naruto?" Naruto sighed and said it again.

"It doesn't matter.. I could have stopped him.." Naruto looked up at Hinata. "How can I face Gaara now? He'll hate me." Hinata paused for a moment, then leaned a little closer.

"Naruto.. Why do you think Gaara will hate you?" Naruto looked confused for a moment.

"Because it's wrong. Gaara and I have always been together, I don't need any other guy. Why would I want to kiss Sasuke? He'd only come between Gaara and me." Hinata frowned when she said Sasuke's name, but then smiled faintly by the end of her explanation.

"Naruto.. I want you to listen to me for a second. Gaara really does care about you, probably more then you think. Trust him and tell him what happened. He will forgive you." Naruto looked puzzled.

"What do you mean? I know Gaara cares about me.."She trailed off, thinking. Hinata just patted Naruto's head.

"You'll figure it out.. But come on Naruto chan, I need to get to class. You know how my father will react if I skip." Naruto stood slowly, brushing off her skirt. Hinata handed her a tissue, which she took gratefully and wiped the tears from her face. She grabbed the strap of her bag, tossing it over her shoulder and nodded, following Hinata down the hallway to the busy part of the school. A few student's were milling around, dawdling on their way to class, but there was no sign of Gaara. Naruto looked over at Hinata, and frowned.

"Where did Gaara go? Why wasn't he with you?" Hinata shook her head.

"We split up, hoping it'd help us find you faster." Naruto nodded.

"Do you know where he is now?" Hinata checked her phone for the time.

"I think he should be checking the roof by now, you'll probably find him there" Naruto smiled, and hugged Hinata.

"You're a good friend Hina-chan" Naruto paused, and was about to speak before they were interrupted.

"HYUUGA! Get you butt to class! Don't make me call your parents again!" They sweatdropped and turned to see Anko standing in the doorway of the Biology classroom, hands on her hips, glaring at them. Hinata sighed.

"I'll see you later Naruto, okay?" Naruto grinned and made a shooing motion.

"Yeah yeah, now get going before she kills me for making you late." Hinata laughed and quickly walked under Anko's icy glare into the classroom. Naruto shook her head as Anko shot her a dark look and closed the door.

_'Psycho teachers in this school.. I swear one day someone will just snap and shoot up the place or something..'_ She laughed to herself at that thought and walked off down the hall.

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Naruto was slowly making her way up the back stairwell that led up to the roof. She paused inside the door, not wanting to even open it for fear of what was waiting to face her on the other side. After a few moments of silently scolding herself, she took a deep breath and quickly opened the door and stepped outside.

The roof was vacant.

She could feel the dissapointment curling up in her stomach, making her sick. She bit her lip and made her way to the rail surrounding the edge of the roof.

"I was really hoping he'd be up here.." She muttered to herself quietly. She closed her eyes, leaning against the rail. The cool breeze felt nice on her face, and she smiled as it playfully tugged at her golden hair. She opened her eyes, taking in the veiw of the grounds below. As she stood there, watching and thinking, tears came to her eyes.

"I'm so stupid... I can't believe I just stood there while that asshole kissed me. I should have seen it coming." She paused, wiping her eyes, and smudging her eyeliner.

"Oh, shit.." She took a small mirror out of her pocket, and quickly rubbed the smudged lines away. She was about to put it in her pocket when she caught a flash of red in the mirror. She whipped around, only to come face to face with Gaara. She staggered back into the rail, lost for words. Her eyes filling with fresh tears as she met his gaze. Those cold eyes.

The mirror clattered to the ground.

Gaara just stared at her, then glanced down to the mirror. His eyes flicked to hers for a moment, taking in her shocked expression. Well, terrified would be a better word for it. He raised an eyebrow, and gracefully dipped down and grabbed the mirror, before bringing it up and extended it to Naruto. She glanced down at the mirror, seeing the glass had all shattered inside it's frame and kept it's shape.

She swallowed noticiably, and shakily snatched it from his hand. She met his eyes and to her dismay he was still staring at her, though now, thoughtfully. She quickly dodged around him and tried to make a break for the stairs.

He obviously wasn't going to even listen to her apology.

She had just reached the door when he grabbed her wrist.

"Naruto, stop." She froze in shock, shaking as he slowly turned her to see her face. Before he was in her line of vision though, she had closed her eyes. Her arms went limp, the mirror slipping to land on the ground again, though he kept a decent grip on her wrist. He stopped her when they were once again face to face, looking directly at her still stubbornly closed eyes. She stood there trembling.

Whatever she was waiting for was the opposite of what happened.

Gaara put his arms around her waist and pulled her into a hug. Naruto gasped, her eyes flying open in shock. For a moment, they just stood like that, with Gaara hugging her, then she slowly raised her arms and hugged him back.

"Why are you crying?" Gaara muttered, and Naruo lifted a hand to her eyes, feeling that she was indeed crying again. She buried her head in his shoulder.

"I'm scared." She whispered, and his eyes widened. He put his hand under his chin and lifted her face, though she adverted his eyes. Gaara sighed.

"Look at me." He waited a moment, before she finally turned, her blue eyes meeting his teal. She gasped as she saw the pain in his eyes. He frowned when he saw the same reflected in hers.

"Why are you scared Naruto?" She bit her lip, and sighed before answering.

"Well. Aren't you angry with me? Hinata said you wouldn't be.. but the way your looking at me.. You can't expect me to believe it! I didn't mean to upset you, and I get it if you don't-" He placed a hand over her mouth, giving her an exasperated look.

"Shut up Naruto. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at Uchiha." She didn't look like she believed him. He placed a hand tentively on her face, rubbing the tears away with his thumb. She looked about to speak, but she caught his eyes and they kept her still where she was. Gaara was quietly contemplating how to explain the situation, though her beauty was distracting. Even when she had tears down her face, and her makeup was all smudged, she was still the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

He sighed, letting his hand fall. The side of Naruto's mouth twitched down into a frown when he let go.

"You are upset though, right?"

Garra nodded. "Not with you though.. not really." He said quietly, and she frowned. He saw it, and instantly regreted saying anything. "Look, don't worry about it. It's over. Just, stay away from him, alright? I don't wanna go through all this again." She nodded, not quite getting why, but was happy to agree if it meant that he wasn't gonna be upset. He held out his hand to her, and she looked at him for a second, confused.

"Coming down?" She smiled and took his hand, letting him lead her down the stairs. When they got down stairs they were greeted by empty hallwys and silence. Gaara pulled led her down the hall to his locker, grabbing his bag and slinging it over a shoulder, then they were off down towards the lunchroom, but she stopped him before they got there. He looked back at her, eyes questioning the stop.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly. Garra nodded.

"I know." He smiled at her, waiting for her to continue. She didn't speak, but looked to the side, and he noticed they were beside the front doors. He grinned, getting the hint.

"So. Feel like going to class, or do you wanna ditch?" Her mouth twitched into a smile.

"Ditch."

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Author's note:

You may have noticed Hinata's lack of stutter when alone with Naruto in the stairwell. I purposely made it like that. Reasons: Not only would she be speaking slower, seeing as she's comforting Naruto, she's also only in the presence of one girl, who happens to be like, her best friend. Did anyone else notice during the series that Hinata was more calm and a little less stuttery when Naruto wasn't around?

Object of her affection being near= Hinata stutters

In the presense of more then two or three people = Hinata stutters

Alone, with her best friend, in a calm enviroment? = Hinata stops stuttering.

At least, thats how it works here. Anyways, that's it. Just wanted to mention it.

If you've noticed any grammar and spelling mistakes, can you let me know? I don't have a beta, and don't really need one either, as long as I can continue to catch my own mistakes.

Until next time,

Ja!

Naru-koi


	4. Awkward, much?

**Chapter 4: Awkward, much?**

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Gaara took Naruto by the hand, pulling her out the door, trying to ignore how right her hand felt in his. As he stepped and stood outside, he noticed dark clouds overhead. He shot the sky a dark look. '_I hate thunderstorms.' _Naruto lightly tugged her hand away, and he glanced at her. She had pulled out her cell phone, and smiled playfully at him.

"Explaining to Hinata why we're not gonna be there this afternoon." He raised an invisible eyebrow.

"She'll be okay?" Naruto nodded.

"Pffft, yeah. She's got Ino and Shino. She'll be fine." She paused, and laughed. "Hey! That rhymed!" She shook her head and looked down at her phone." He nodded slowly and waited for her to finish. Before she sent it though, he glanced over at her text;

_Hina, srry to leave like this. Not feeling all that great. Going home with Gaara. Dont wrry bout us. _

_I'll call u later. :]_

He smiled at her bad spelling.

"You know, It's rude to read into other people's personal business." He looked up to notice her watching him. He smirked a bit, but quickly responded, glancing down as she hit send.

"Well. It concerns me to a degree, so I do believe I get some entitlelment to the right to read it. " She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Smartass."She just shook her head and walked away. She stopped short once they got to the front gate, causing him to bump into her. She turned to him, a thoughtful look on her face."Uhm. Where are we going?" He snickered.

"Your place or mine?" Naruto made a face at the innuendo and laughed lightly.

"Mine I guess. Kyuubi shouldn't be home for a couple hours so we can hang out in peace" Gaara let out a sigh of relief, making Naruto laugh. "Anyways.. walk or bus?" He thought for a moment, giving the sky a quick glance. It didn't look like it'd rain any time soon.

"Walk?" She smiled and walked ahead, and he sighed as he followed after her, watching her hips sway. He then realised what he was doing and smacked himself in the face, shaking his head to clear the unneeded thoughts. _'What if she saw you doing that! Not only would it be awkward, she'd probably kill you!'_

"Uh, Gaara?" He froze and looked up at Naruto, fearing the worst. She was about 3 feet away from him, looking at him in concern. "Are you okay?" He nodded, wary.

"Yeah, why." She raised an eyebrow and gestured to the space between them.

"You stopped walking." He gave a forced laugh and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Um.. Sorry. Had something on my mind." She looked concerned for a moment, but let it slide and shook her head in amusement.

"Come on then, we'll be there soon enough" She said, making a 'hurry up' motion, and waited with a hand extended towards him. He jogged quickly to her, taking her hand. She grinned up at him, her eyes crinkling at the corners, and he smiled down at her.

As soon as she was looking the other way he sighed silently, exasperated. He looked down at Naruto as they walked. Suddenly the sun peeked out behind the clouds for a second, and her hair caught the light, making her almost glow. He smiled gently. '_Everyday, I keep falling more and more for her.._' She was so gorgeous, such a good sense of style and music, in his opinon at least. And she didn't dress all skanky like some girls at school. He sighed heavily again. _'Dunce. Keep going like this and you'll screw it all up. The last thing she needs to deal with on a stressful day is you making a fucking move on her..' _He couldn't help but shoot her a look out of the corner of his eye, and quickly looked away as he realized she'd caught him. She just laughed it off and kept walking.

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As they left the school building hand in hand, Naruto was feeling very odd. His hand was very warm and surprisingly soft around hers. She was getting a fuzzy feeling in her stomach, and she was wondering if it was because they were holding hands. She looked up at Gaara, taking in the smooth pale complexion, his blood red hair, the way he confidently held himself. _'He was quite handsome, in his own way. But, it's not like I think of him like that.. right?'_ She stopped her thoughts, smiling as she noticed he was giving the sky a dirty look. She looked at the sky and conceeded that the weather had taken a turn for the worst. _'Man, I hope I make it home before that hits..'_ She suddenly remembered Hinata, and lightly tugged her hand from Gaara's. When he looked at her, she already had her phone out and she nodded towards it, "Explaining to Hinata why we're not going to be there this afternoon." He gave her a questioning look.

"She'll be okay?" She smirked.

"Pfft, yeah. She has Ino and Shino. She'll be fine." Naruto paused and laughed. "Hey! That rhymed!" Gaara's non-existant eyebrows rose at the childish comment, and she shook her head, mentally scolding herself. _'Great job embarrassing yourself, you dork. Obviously it rhymed.._' She stopped scolding herself as she quickly typed out the text to Hinata. She noticed Gaara leaning over her shoulder in her periphial vision before she clicked send, noticing he had been watching what she typed. What confused her slightly was the soft smile on his face. She shrugged it off.

"You know, It's rude to read other people's personal business." She muttered. Gaara looked up, obviously knowing he'd been caught. He smirked, and glanced down for a second as she sent the text.

"Well. It concerns me to a degree, so I do believe I get some entitlelment to the right to read it. " She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Smartass."She just shook her head at his comment and walked away. She stopped as they reached the front gates. Gaara bumped into her, and she stumbled a bit, catching herself. Naruto didn't mind though, and just turned to him and asked "Uhm. Where are we going?" He chuckled, and spoke up when he noticed she was still waiting.

"Your place or mine?" She made a face at the silly question, and laughed, thinking about it for a moment.

"Mine I guess. Kyuubi shouldn't be home for a couple hours so we can hang out in peace" Gaara let out a sigh of relief, making her laugh. "Anyways.. walk or bus?" He seemed to give it a decent bit of thought. Gaara looked over at her.

"Walk?" She smiled, and started walking in the direction of her house. She'd been walking for only a minute or two when she noticed Gaara wasn`t beside her. She frowned, concerned. She took a step back towards him. "Uh, Gaara?"

He visably froze, and slowly looked up to meet her eyes. It kinda looked like he was having some inner debate on whether he wanted to run off or not. She decided to be blunt. "Are you okay?" He nodded. She laughed inwardly.

"Yeah, why?" She gestured to the space between them.

"You stopped walking." He let out a short bark of a laugh, and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Uhm, sorry.. had something on my mind." She worried for a second that this was about Uchiha, but she quickly pushed those thoughts away. She shook her head, smiling.

"Come on then, we'll be there soon enough" She said, making a 'hurry up' motion, and waited with a hand extended towards him. He jogged quickly to her, taking her hand. She grinned up at him, her eyes crinkling at the corners, and he smiled down at her. After a few minutes of walking in silence, she snuck a quick glance at him to see his expression, and was surprised to see him doing the same. She started laughing and just kept walking.

She grinned when she saw her house come into view, and glanced at Gaara. He looked deep in thought, so she squeezed his hand.

"Gaara, we're here!" She said cherfully as she walked through the front gate. He looked up then and smiled as she let go of his hand to unlock the door, and held the door open for him. They walked into the front hall, hanging thir jackets and kicking off their shoes. Gaara dropped his bag to the floor, and Naruto ran down the hall to toss her bag in her room. When she came back, Gaara was just waiting there for her patiently. She nodded and walked past him into the kitchen.

Naruto dropped down onto a kitchen chair, placing her head on the table and causing her hair to fall in her face.

"Ahh, home sweet home." Gaara stood in the doorway to the kitchen watching her. He leaned agains he door frame and crossed his arms. She took in his leisurely stance. "Yes?"

"Well. What do you want to do?" She shrugged, implying she didn't really care. Then as he opened his mouth to suggest something, she jolted up.

"Oh, I have this new boxed set, for that show, you know, the ghost hunters?" She stated, her eyes wide, staring at him. He nodded, amused.

"I know of it. You wanna watch some?" She grinned and nodded excited.

"And of course, I want my favourite snack to go along with it!" She winked extravagantly. He chuckled at her expression, heading to the cupboard, grabbing out a cup of noodles and placing it on the counter. He then bent to dig for a pot in the cupboards down by the stove.

"You do know this stuff will kill you if you keep eating so much." He muttered, ignoring the look she gave him. She got up and walked over to him as he poured water in the pot and placed it on the stove. She leaned against the counter next to him. He flicked the dial to high and turned to see her standing there watching him. He gave her a quizzical look. "What?"

"Thanks" She murmured, watching him, taking in his expression. He was a little taken aback by the intesnity of her gaze. He coughed awkwardly.

"It's just ramen.." He trailed off as he saw her shaking her head, ignoring his confused expression. She looked up at him, her blue eyes peircing his green.

"Not just the ramen, for.. forgiving me, about the whole Sasuke Uchiha thing.. You don't know how sorry I nam..mpgph gunhfh!" He had placed a hand over her mouth, rolling his eyes..

"Shut up Naruto, this is ridiculous. Listen to me right now, okay?" He waited til she stopped glaring at him and he removed his hand slowly. She bit her lip and waited, and when he didn't start talking she got impatient.

"What do you wanna say?" He made an irriatated sound, and decided to just jump right in.

"I don't blame you. I blame.. him." Her brows drew together as a thoughtful expression crossed her face.

"But at the school you said tha-" He grabbed her shoulders.

"Naruto! That doesn't matter" He inturrupted. "I don't blame you. Ignore what I said before." He hesitated for half a second, and then reached up to hold her head between his hands. He leaned down a bit, his face only a few inches from hers, their eyes level with each other. She blushed, remembering what happened when Sasuke was this close to her. Then her face got even more red as she was embarrassed for thinking such thoughts around Gaara, even though he didn't know it.

"Naruto. I trust you, you're my best friend. You say he forced the kiss on you, you say it didn't mean anything, you begged me to forgive you. Obviously it wasn't something you wanted." He trailed off at the sight of tears in her eyes. "It's okay Naruto.." He sighed and wrapped his arms around her. "I think you're blowing this way out of proportion." She sighed, gripping his sweater, and mumbled something into his chest. He leaned down, trying to pry her a bit away from him. "What was that Naru? I didn't catch it?" She moved a bit away from him, but kept her head down.

"I don't know what I'd do if I lost you.." She murmured, and he saw tears drip off her face onto the floor between them. He was a bit shocked, and as thoughts started forming from the words she said, he quickly did a mental shake to get rid of them.He pulled her closer into a hug again. He was about to speak when she suddenly pulled back. She looked at the floor, avoiding his eyes.

"So, I guess I'll go get the dvd's from my room. Be right back!" She said, and ran from the room. He stood there for a second, confused.

"Uhm. Okay. That was a little weird." He paused as he heard her come back down the hall and walk into the living room. They were obviously gonna watch it out there. He sighed, and leaned back on the counter. Unfortunately, he placed on of his hands too near the stove, and burnt it on the hot pot.

"Oh, fuck! Argh! Bloody hell!" He shouted in pain, gripping his wrist, careful not to touch the burn. As he was swearing under his breath, Naruto quickly rushed in and pushed him out of the way. She grabbed the pot and put it on another element that which was off, and flicked off the one the pot had been on. She then turned to Gaara who was holding his hurt hand. He just kinda shrugged, trying to play it off and she gave him a 'yeah, right' look and came to clutch at his wrist, inspecting.

Luckily it had only been minor and his hand was only tender and a bit red. She still insisted on pulling him into the living room and sitting him down on the couch with a very stern glare and a "Stay put!" He proceeded to turn on the tv, and grabbed the remot, turning on the dvd player. Apparently one of the dvds was already in, and the intro for the show came on.

She came back with a first aid kit, only to place it on the couch and go back down the hall into Kyuubi's room. He raised a non existant eyebrow, but just turned to the tv. She'd come back in a second. When she came back the second time, she was holding a bottle of some kind of lotion. As she flicked open the first aid kit, he picked up the bottle and read the label, giving her a odd look.

"Aloe Vera Gel?" Naruto nodded, not even bothering to look at his face as she started pulling out sterile badanges and a tensor bangdage.

"Kyuubi has a record of having some trouble with leaving fire alone. She doesn't do it much anymore, but I like to keep this in the house just in case. It always did wonders for her burns" She lightly tugged the bottle from his hand and opened it and placed it beside her, pulling on a pair of gloves. She then took ahold of his wrist, and tipped the bottle so that a small amount poured out onto his hand.

"Ah, that's cold!" He hissed at her, but left his hand where it was. Though it has surprised him that it was so cold, his hand almost instantly felt a bit better. Whether it was from the cream or the cold, something had helped. She gave him a quick look, making sure he was okay and then spread it lightly with a gloved hand. She then grabbed one of the sterile bandages and tore the package open, pulling out the bandage and placing it on his hand. Then she pulled off the gloves, and tore open another bandage, and placed it on the other one. This confused Gaara a bit.

"Why are you putting on another one?" He asked, curious. She smiled as she started wrapping the tensor bandage around his arm and hand.

"For some more protection, if you happen to bump it into anything." The side of his mouth twitched, and he fought back the urge to smile at her thoughtfulness.

"Uhm, thanks." She smiled as she finished wrapping, and held it in place with a few metal clasps.

"No problem." She stated, and looked up at him as he twisted his arm around, testing the mobility.

It was alright, a little snug, but that'd probably help it stay on so it could heal, he assumed. He looked up to see her staring at him, and he suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable. She was really close, and didn't seem to realise that she was staring. He cleared his throat awkwardly, and stood up, trying to clear his head.

"Well. I suppose I should go finish making the ramen" Naruto snorted and shook her head. He looked at her, confused. She grinned at him cheekily.

"Like I'm letting you near the stove again tonight." He rolled his eyes, exasperated.

"Naru~" He whined. She patted him on the head as she passed him, kit in hand.

"You just go and sit. I'll make you something to at while I'm at it." She paused in the doorway before the left the room. "Don't get used to this though. I'm not a servant." He rolled his eyes, and sat down, huffing.

"Women."

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Author's note: Hey there! Naru-koi here again.

Just a little note for anyone who's curious. (about the handholding thing) Naruto is a very affectionate person in this fic, and since Gaara won't complain about holding hands with his love interest, she continues to do it. While other people may see it as a couple thing, she uses it as a way to connect with him in a friendly, affectionate way, not to mention tow him around! :3

And remember. She's clueless in this story! She doesn't even realize if what she's feeling for Gaara lately means anything!

Okay, anyways. We're caught up to the point where the story starts changing. I _should_ have Chapter 5 up by tomorrow night, if not the night after. Keep your fingers crossed!

Review if you'd like, please and thank you's.

Until next time,

Ja!

Naru-koi


	5. Priorities

"_Like I'm letting you near the stove again tonight." He rolled his eyes, exasperated. _

"_Naru~" He whined. She patted him on the head as she passed him, kit in hand. _

"_You just go and sit. I'll make you something to at while I'm at it." She paused in the doorway before the left the room. "Don't get used to this though. I'm not a servant." He rolled his eyes, and sat down, huffing. _

"_Women." _

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Chapter 5: Priorities.

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Naruto snickered as she walked back into the kitchen. She headed over to the stove to turn the element on to reboil the water. She paused, and frowned. '_What should I make for Gaara?_' She stood there, tapping her chin, thinking. _'It'd probably be best to just ask him..' _She walked out into the hall and peeked her head into the living room. She smirked to see Gaara pouting on the couch. She shook her head.

"Hey, Gaara?" He looked up, quickly dropping the pout for a curious expression.

"Everything okay Naruto?" She shrugged, glancing back into the kitchen to keep an eye on the boiling water.

"Yeah, I was just wondering if you wanted anything specific?" Gaara made a thoughtful face, and stood up from the couch and walked over.

"What do you have?" Naruto followed him into the kitchen, leaned on the edge of the kitchen table as Gaara snooped through the fridge onehandedly. She smirked as he pulled out a container of food left over from yesterday's supper. He pulled it out, and opened the lid a little and sniffed. He winced and snapped the lid shut. He shot her a look of concealed disgust.

"Kyuubi's cooking?" Naruto laughed.

"Yeah. She started supper before I got home the other day. Why, too spicy?" Gaara made a face.

"I can almost taste how spicy it is by smell alone! Were you even able to eat this?" He asked incredulously, as he tossed it back on the shelf and continued shuffling through. She rolled her eyes.

"Of course. I'm so used to her throw-together-whatever-looks-good cooking it's ridiculous." Gaara pulled out a container of strawberry yogurt.

"Do you have fresh strawberries?" He asked, glancing at her before resuming his rummaging.

"Feelin' partial to parfait?" She asked, curious. He nodded, looking behind the jug of orange juice. "Strawberries are on the second shelf there, behind that thing of margarine, and the granola is in a bag behind that jar by the toaster." She said, gesturing as she talked. Gaara nodded, and pointed to the stove where the water was boiling already.

"Water's done." Naruto pushed off the table and opened the container of ramen, nudging him out of the way so she could pour the water in over the sink to catch any spills. She dumped the rest of the water into the sink and let it sit, turning to watch Gaara cut strawberries. She smiled nostalgically as she watched him dice them up with quick, careful precision. He was a great cook really. He had to be, considering he lived alone. She sighed, and scrunched up her nose. It was so unfair that his father basically abandoned him in that house after his mother passed away. She frowned, and walked up beside him, placing a hand on his elbow.

"Hey, do you want any help?" Gaara looked a little surprised, but nodded and pointed to the yogurt and granola with the knife.

"Wanna get one of those wide brim cups and portion me out some yogurt?" Naruto made a face at being given such a menial task, but did it anyways, making sure to portion out some granola for him too. As she passed the cup over to him, he looked up, meeting her eyes for a second. She blinked, surprised at how blank his expression was, but he gestured over his shoulder, breaking her line of thoughts.

"Time's up. Your noodles will get soggy." Naruto jumped, and turned, grabbing a fork out of the drawer and draining some of the water out of the cup.

"Thanks Gaara." She mumbled, grateful he'd been keeping track of the time. She'd completely forgotten. She passed him as she walked out of the kitchen. "Just put the knife in the sink, I'll get to it later. Hurry up so we can watch the show!" She called as she went into the living room. She made her way over to the couch and placed the noodle bowl on the table and plopped down on the couch. She looked at where Gaara had been sitting, and grabbed the remote from the arm of the couch.

"Sucker." He walked in then, raising an invisible eyebrow and making his way over to the couch.

"Who's a sucker?" He asked, smirking when Naruto paused.

"Uhh.. The people who believe ghosts are real?" Gaara looked at her for a second, before giving a short laugh.

"Yeah, sure. Them." He agreed. He rolled his eyes when she smiled. "Come on short stuff. Hit play already." She stuck her tongue out at him but did it anyways, and leaned forward to grab her snack. He sat down beside her, and scooped a strawberry up."Which one are we watching?" He asked before popping it in his mouth. She grinned.

"The Number of the Beast" He rolled his eyes.

"Sound's terrifying." She shook her head and gave him an angry look.

"Shhh! It's starting!" He snorted, but turned back to the tv and kept quiet.

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.

About five hours later, Gaara jolted up, having heard a car door slam outside. He pulled out his phone, and checked the time. 4:47 pm. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Kyuubi should be home soon, if that wasn't her now. He glanced down to see Naruto fast asleep, her head on his lap. He smiled, before grabbing the remote from her loose grip and shutting the tv off.

"Can't believe we fell asleep." He shook his head, slowly pulling her fingers off from where they'd grabbed onto his pant leg and pulled away from her carefully, placing a cushion under her head. He stood up and stretched, before grabbing the dishes and went into the kitchen.

As he placed his dishes in the sink, he heard the back door open and someone come in. He poked his head out of the kitchen doorway, and spotted Kyuubi down the hall. She noticed him and was about to greet him, but he put a finger to his lips and pointed into the living room. She raised an eyebrow, but came down the hallway quietly and looking into the living room, smiling when she saw Naruto sprawled on the couch asleep. She followed Gaara into the kitchen quietly.

He glanced over his shoulder at her and smirked at her clothes. She was wearing knee high black strapped boots, a blood red skirt that fell loosely just below her knees, and a black lacy corset top with a leather jacket on top. He shook his head, hiding his mirth from her. '_What was with these Uzamaki girls and wearing provocative clothes and leather?'_

"When did you guys get home?" She asked him as she put her bag on the chair beside her. He shrugged, watching as she pulled her long red hair out of the up do it had been neatly sitting in.

"We left halfway through second period." Kyuubi stopped what she was doing and turned to him with a gasp.

"Gaara! What the hell?" He made a face at her. 'Accusing_ me like it was my fault..'_

"She was having a hard day. She wanted to get out of there. It was her choice." Kyuubi kept up the angry expression for a moment but then sighed, just looking tired. She shook out her hair, and headed over to the fridge to get something out for supper. She paused and stuck out her tongue at the food childishly when she didn't see anything appealing. She closed the fridge and reached into the drawer by the fridge that had the take-out menus he rolled his eyes at her. Typical Kyuubi. Won't cook unless it's absolutely necessary. The only time she actually tried to make a decent meal was on Naruto's birthdays and on the holidays. She startled him out of his thoughts when she spoke again.

"What happened that was that bad?" He frowned, and shook his head.

"It's not my place to say." Kyuubi looked up at him with an annoyed expression and a raised eyebrow.

"That's really helpful. You know, if she starts to fail any classes this year because she missed all the lessons, you're the one who's gonna be tutoring her. I'm really not gonna spend any money on a private tutor when she has you to help her along in her classes." She paused as he rolled his eyes. She swatted his arm with the menus. "Stop that! You know what I mean. She isn't stupid, not by a long shot, but when you guys are gallivanting around without a care for school in your heads, you don't seem to realize _I'm_ the one they call to inform that Naruto's grades are falling again!" She stopped talking as she took in Gaara's expression. He looked almost angry, and he was looking out the window again. She rolled her eyes. He had this weird thing with not looking people in the eye when he was annoyed.

"Look, Gaara. I really like you. You're a good kid, you keep Naruto out of trouble, and you take care of her when I can't do it for her. You've been her friend for years. I appreciate everything you've done for her. But when you start doing bad things, like skipping four out of five classes in a day, I gotta start wondering where your priorities are!" He glanced back at her, unfolding his arms from the defensive position and let out a breath. He wouldn't met her eyes, but when he started talking, she could tell it was heartfelt.

"My priorities are always Naruto first. You know that. I don't do anything that jeopardizes her health, her schooling, or her life in general." He sighed heavily, rubbing his hands over his face. They'd had this conversation countless times. He told her that and her eyes got sad, and she walked over to him. He stiffened but all she did was put her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and she started speaking.

"Well, I need to know she's safe. I have to protect her. Mom and dad died, Jiraiya always disappears, so I'm the only constant family figure in her life. I need to know she's okay when I'm not around, and I need to know that if something happens to her, she has people she can turn to. I know you're her best friend, and I know you care for her like she's your own family. I just don't know how to let her go. I don't want to let her go, and then find she has no one to turn to. I don't want what happened to her before to happen again." She trailed off, and her eyes got misty. Gaara looked away, uncomfortable.

"I'll protect her if anything happens to you. You know that." Kyuubi nodded, and sniffed pathetically.

"Guys?" They both turned to see Naruto standing in the doorway, looking concerned and very confused. Kyuubi jumped, and excused her self from the room, pausing in the doorway to hug Naruto to and whisper to her quietly. Naruto's eyes widened the slightest bit and turned to watch as Kyuubi flitted up the stairs and out of sight. She turned back to Gaara.

"What'd she say?" He asked, curious. She looked at him for a moment.

"She told me she loved me more than anything." She looked down. Gaara approached her, and she reached out for his hand. He took it, and looked down at her, worried.

"What's wrong Naru?" He prodded gently. She shook her head and looked back towards the stairway.

"I just got a weird feeling.." Gaara raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Naruto shrugged after a moment. "So.. what were you guys talking about?" He rolled his eyes at the not so subtle subject change.

"Not a lot. Just the usual 'You must protect that which I hold dear' speech." Naruto snorted, the serious moment had passed.

"You must protect what I hold dear? What are you, Shakespeare?" Gaara gave her a weird look.

"I'm not a literature major, but I don't think Shakespeare ever said that Naru." Naruto huffed as Gaara laughed at her.

"You know what I mean! It's all fancy and old school." She said as she gestured. Gaara shook his head, laughing.

"Whatever. Come on. I think Kyuubi wanted to order out, so lets check out the menu's." Naruto huffed but grabbed a takeout menu and flicked it open. After reading for a moment, she looked up over the top of the menu at Gaara. He was looking down at the one in his hand, but he didn't seem to be reading. She watched for a moment, but he didn't do anything, just stared at the paper in his hands. Her eyes softened, and looked down at the table. '_What did Kyuubi say that got him depressed?'_

.

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Author's Note:

*cowers* I'm so sorry! This is like, almost 2 weeks later then I said I'd post it. And it's not even amazing or anything! D: I'd love to give an excuse about how like, my pet died or something else sad and reasonable, but really, I just kept procrastinating, and then I had to work 5 days straight. And bleh. I finished it up tonight though, and thought it was best to post it now while I had time. Rather then, you know, wait until I decide "Oh, this sentence sounds weird" And then write and rewrite a paragraph until it's mangled. And unpostable. And I have to re write that whole dang chapter to make it fit. But this is good. I'm so much more happy with this version already then the old one.

Anyways. I won't promise an update-date, because well, look how this turned out. :/ I do seem to have a decent amount of free time coming up, and I'm hoping to post another chapter before the end of May. We'll see though. ._.;

Hey, bee-tee-double-u. Drop a review if you wanna leave an opinion on this. Even anon reviews would be appreciated, but give me some feed back if you feel generous. Is this good? Horrible? Bleh. I'l'l go away now.

Until next time,

Ja.

Naru-koi


	6. A night to Remember

Chapter 6: A night to remember.

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CRASH!

Gaara jumped violently and Naruto gave him a sympathetic look. It had started raining shortly after 6, and only got worse as the evening went on. Naruto patted his hand. Gaara didn't like thunder storms. He'd probably end up staying the night at this rate if it didn't stop. Gaara scowled and shook his head, looking out the window at the dark clouds.

"When is that damn pizza going to get here?" He grumbled. Naruto shrugged, flicking through the channels.

"They're usually pretty quick. The storm hit fast though, he's probably is just having some trouble driving through this." The doorbell rang then, and Naruto grinned at him, and ran to the door. Gaara stayed, snickering on the couch watching TV.

Naruto ran into the front hall and skidded to a stop just before the door. She popped up on her tip toes, and peeked though the peephole and opened the door. A tall guy with blonde hair that fell past his shoulders stood there smiling, looking a little on the drenched side, holding a insulated pizza carrier. He had on a cap and a black waterproof jacket with the company logo on each. He had stunning, bright blue eyes and tight faded blue jeans on ending with worn sneakers. He looked like he was in his early twenties. Naruto blushed and moved to the side.

"Hey, come in for a second out of the rain. The money's in the kitchen." He nodded gratefully.

"Thanks a bunch. It's really pouring out there." She smiled, her eyes crinkling. She held up a finger.

"One sec." She stumbled out of the room and into the kitchen, pausing to fan her face dramatically when Kyuubi looked up from her coffee and newspaper at the table. She raised an eyebrow, then grinned.

"Out of ten?" Naruto smirked and held up eight fingers. Kyuubi snorted. 'Teenagers.' Naruto grabbed her wallet out of her bag and ran back into the hall. The guy smiled seeing her again. She blushed slightly.

"So what's my total.." She paused and looked at him expectantly. He wasn't wearing a name tag. He blinked and smiled.

"Oh. I'm Dorian. I just started the other day." He opened the carrier and checked a slip of paper attached to the pizza boxes. "$14.98" She nodded, and opened her wallet and handed him a twenty.

"No change. That okay?" He nodded, looking highly surprised.

"Sure thing, considering the last guy didn't tip at all. You sure that much?" He chuckled. Naruto laughed with him, and shook her head affirmative.

"Considering you came all this way in the rain, yeah." He handed her the pizzas and nodded, pocketing the money.

"Thanks Miss, I really appreciate it." He winked as he saluted her and opened the door. "I'll see you around." She smiled at him, waving shyly.

"See ya!" He closed the door behind him, as she walked over and locked it. She took a second to breathe in the smell of the cheese. "Mmm! Smells good!" Gaara walked into the hall then.

"What's taking so long.. oh. Why are you just standing there?" He asked, confused. She blushed.

"Oh. Well, Dorian the pizza guy, just left, and.." She paused as Gaara stopped and looked at her weird.

"You're on a first name basis with your pizza guy?" She shrugged.

"Uhm. Sort of. It wasn't the usual guy. He gave me his name, but I didn't tell him mine. Oh, shoot. I wonder if he thought that was rude?" He took her arm and guided her into the kitchen, where Kyuubi looked up and stood to grab plates.

"I'm sure he didn't. But, do you mean to say that you're on a first name basis with your _usual_ pizza guy?" Gaara asked, mystified. Kyuubi nodded as Naruto answered.

"Of course. Jason always delivers fifteen minutes after we call, rain or shine. And he usually works during the week between 4 and 11, sometimes on weekends." Gaara shook his head.

"You guys are weird." Naruto looked at him blankly.

"You mean you don't know your pizza guy?" Gaara shook his head.

"Of course not! Why would I?" Naruto shared a look with Kyuubi.

"Must be a guy thing" They chorused before laughing. He snorted.

"Whatever, come on Uzamaki, I'm hungry. Let me eat something." Naruto rolled her eyes and put the boxed down.

"You'd think I didn't feed you earlier.." Gaara ignored her and opened it up, pausing to inhale the cheesy smell before grabbing three slices and putting them on his plate. He went to the fridge, and opened it, scanning the shelves and snooping around. Kyuubi took two slices and reached over in front of Gaara to grab a diet soda. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her as she turned to leave the room.

"That's it?" Kyuubi shrugged.

"I'm thinking of starting another diet." Naruto pouted.

"But you look great! Besides, you only go on diets when you get a.. new boyfriend." Naruto gasped. "You got a new boyfriend? Who is he?" Kyuubi blushed, and smiled dreamily. Gaara rolled his eyes and grabbed two cans out of the fridge.

"I'll be in your room Naru. Come when you guys are done here." Naruto stuck out her tongue at him.

"'Kay." And with that she turned back to Kyuubi. "So~? Do I know him? Oh! Is it that cute brunette from the coffee shop on Maples?" Kyuubi shook her head.

"No way! And he's not my boyfriend. You haven't met him. He's here in Japan on business, I bumped into him on the metro on the way home from work. Like, literally. I bumped into him and he almost knocked me over! Luckily he caught me, oh gosh, I almost swooned! He's sooo handsome, and he asked me out to dinner this weekend as an apology!" Naruto sighed, placing a hand over her heart.

"Aww. That's so sweet! What's his name?" Kyuubi blushed again at this.

"His name is Itachi, and he's originally from Japan, but his family is overseas in Europe right now, he had some business to take care of here though. Oh, I wish Saturday would come faster!" Kyuubi giggled. Naruto smiled warmly at her.

"He sounds really great, I'm really happy for you." Kyuubi smiled at that.

"Thanks Naru chan. I really appreciate it." She said, as she ruffled Naruto's hair. Naruto pouted, fixing it up again.

"Oh, go away already." She pouted as she pushed Kyuubi away from her and went to grab a drink for herself. Kyuubi chuckled and grabbed her food and left.

"Oh." She paused in the doorway and waited until Naruto looked over to speak. "If Gaara stays over, tell him I said it's lights out by eleven. There's school tomorrow. And get some homework done!" She ducked back out of the kitchen as Naruto threw the dish towel at her. Naruto heard her laughing as she went down the hall to her room.

"Annoying sisters." The blonde muttered as she went to collect the towel off the floor. She tossed it on the counter and grabbed her food before heading into the hall and up the stairs to her room. She was greeted by the sight of Gaara sprawled on his stomach by the foot of her bed, eyes intent on the 16" TV she kept in her room. He glanced over as she walked in.

"Hey. You guys done?"

"Yeah, pretty much." She sat down beside him and grabbed the remote from him, causing him to pout adorably.

"Hey. I'm watching something!" Naruto rolled her eyes and put the remote down beside her.

"Fine, we'll watch whatever _you_ want on _my_ TV. Never mind that.. wait. Are you drinking alcohol?" She raised an eyebrow, and grabbed the can out of his hand before he could even open his mouth to defend himself. "You are! What the hell Gaara?" She laughed. He shrugged, amused that she wasn't angry as she'd usually be if he tried something like this.

"Well, It's my 18th in two months. I thought it'd be fine if I had a little something before hand. It's not like I never drank before." Naruto shook her head, still grinning.

"That's not the point.. Just don't come crying to me if Kyuubi finds out. And don't drink too much!" He rolled his eyes.

"I only grabbed two cans." He said in a tone that clearly said she was being accusatory over nothing. She snorted.

"Anyways. Kyuubi said if you're staying then it's lights out at eleven, and we need to get some homework done." She said, rolling her eyes at him. He nodded, turning back to the TV.

"By the way, you told Hinata you'd call her." She stared at him for a second before jumping up, almost knocking his food off the edge of the bed.

"Oi! You're right!" She laughed as she ran across the room to her desk where her desk was. She grabbed the wireless off the desk and hopped back over to the bed, sprawling out on it so she could rest her head on Gaara's back. She ignored his mumbled protests as she dialled Hinata's cell number. She pressed the phone against her ear and waited as it rang. After five rings she heard Hinata pick up.

"_H-hello?"_

"Hey Hinata, it's Naruto."

"_Oh! Hi Naruto chan. How are you feeling? Is everything okay?" _Naruto smiled. She could almost hear Hinata fretting over the phone.

"I'm alright Hinata. Everything is fine. I'm just hanging out with Gaara at my place right now." Gaara called out a hello before taking another sip of his drink. She rolled her eyes. "And Gaara says hi." She heard Hinata giggle.

"_Yeah, I heard him. Tell him I said thanks for walking you home after." _Naruto smiled.

"Sure thing." She turned to Gaara and nudged his shoulder.

"Hm?" He murmured.

"She said thanks for walking me home." Gaara rolled his eyes over his shoulder at her.

"No problem." Naruto's eye crinkled up as she smiled, and Gaara looked the other way. Naruto rolled her eyes.

"So what's up Hinata?"

"_Not much. I just finished my homework. What did you guys do today? By the way, you should have stayed, we got the afternoon off anyways today."_ Naruto frowned.

"Oh? How come?"

"_Apparently some punks tried to set the old building on fire. They didn't catch the kids who did it, but everything is okay, it was mostly contained to one room."_

"Oh, that's good then I suppose." She frowned as Gaara nudged her off him and stood and left the room. She made a face but laid back down.

"_Mhm. So what'd you guys do today?" _Hinata asked, curious.

"Oh! Haha. I forgot. We came home and ate, and watched a couple episodes of that ghost hunter show. We ended up falling asleep in the living room though." She paused. "It was kinda weird though. When I got up, Gaara and Kyuubi were talking in the kitchen and she was like, almost crying. Neither of them really told me what it was about though." She trailed off. Hinata responded, sounding a little skeptical.

"_Not even Gaara? I thought he told you everything?"_ Naruto sighed, and rolled over onto her stomach and played with her hair.

"I dunno. He told me something about Kyuu giving him the third degree again, but that doesn't explain why _she_ was the one crying. I dunno what's going on. I guess if it was important, she'd tell me, right?" Hinata hummed in agreement with her.

"_How's Kyuubi doing at her new job anyways?" _Naruto smiled.

"Really good. She loves it there. And she gets to use all the art supplies she wants. It really works out in her favour." She paused to snort. "You'll never guess what happened to her on the metro today."

"_She bumped into her soul mate?" _Hinata asked dryly. Naruto burst out laughing.

"Yeah, pretty much. Apparently he's taking her out this weekend as an apology for knocking her down on the metro today." Hinata sighed.

"_I hope this one works out." _Naruto rolled her eyes and sighed sadly.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." She glanced up as Gaara walked in again with his bag. "It's just ridiculous how many guys turned out to be total jerks so far." Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow, and put his bag down by the desk, as he pulled off his sweater and draped it on the back of the desk chair, before walking over and retaking his place, pushing her over to the other side of the bed. "Ouch. Meanie." Hinata snickered on the line.

"_You okay over there?" _

"Yeah, Gaara's just being pushy again. I think he just wants attention."

"_Do you want me to let you go?"_ Naruto frowned for a second, but sighed.

"Uh, yeah, might as well. Are you gonna come by to walk with us tomorrow?"

"_Gaara's staying over?"_ Naruto snorted.

"Well he just brought his bag up in here and hasn't said differently up to now, so I assume he's staying." He nodded at that. "So I guess I'll text you in the morning when we get up, maybe if we're early, we can stop by that coffee shop Kyuubi always goes to? It has this new flavour of cappuccino out that I wanna try."

"_Sounds good. Don't forget to text me."_ Naruto smiled.

"Yeah, I know. Night Hinata."

"_Night Naru chan. Tell Gaara goodnight also."_

"Sure thing. See you tomorrow."

"_Bye."_ Hinata hung up and Naruto hit end, before placing the phone on her bedside table.

"Hinata said goodnight." Gaara nodded.

"That was nice of her." Naruto rolled over to lie beside him on her back.

"Mhm. She's a total sweet heart. I don't get why you won't go out with her." Gaara glared at Naruto.

"Will you drop it already? I know she's great, she's just not my type." He grumbled. Naruto pouted and poked Gaara in the face.

"Well then tell me what your type is so I can get you a girlfriend." Gaara rolled his eyes up to the ceiling and shook his head.

"Clueless." He muttered under his breath. He looked at her. "Look. I'm not interested in you setting me up with anyone. It's not going to happen. I don't want any of the girls from school." Naruto frowned and squinted at him for a second.

"Are you gay?" Gaara's eyes widened impossibly and he spluttered.

"What the hell! No! Of course not! Why would you even ask that?" Naruto shrugged, brushing it off.

"Well you don't seem interested in any girls in your life. I don't know what's going on in that head of yours." She said as she childishly knocked on his head with her knuckles. He swatted her hand away.

"Well, I'm not, okay?" He grabbed the other can off the floor and popped it open. Naruto mumbled something under her breath and let out a sigh.

"Alright. I'll drop it." She grabbed the remote and started flicking through the channels ignoring the look Gaara gave her. He sighed.

"I know you mean well, but really. I just don't want any of them. I appreciate you trying though." He laughed. She smiled lightly.

"Yeah sure. Oh! Oprah's on." She flicked to the channel, ignoring Gaara's groan of annoyance. He got off the bed and headed to her desk. She looked at him as he grabbed his homework out. "What are you doing?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"You know I hate those drama filled talk shows. I'm doing my homework." She made a face. "You only went to Kakashi's class today. There was no homework." Gaara looked away.

"I kinda didn't do my homework yesterday." She snickered.

"That's unusual. Any reason?" He shook his head, pulled out his notebook and headed back to the bed to sit down.

"No. Just watch your show." He mumbled as he sat down. Naruto made a face and stuck out her tongue at him as he sat down, but turned back to the TV. '_Stubborn.' _She watched in silence for a moment, but looked back at Gaara. He was writing, his face controlled in concentration. _'Maybe he was talking to his father last night.. That would explain his bad mood.. Or maybe it was today in general..' _She rolled over before she stretched out, resting her head on her arms, and watched Gaara's hand move as he wrote.

"Gaara?"

"Hmm?"

"Was it your father?" There was a pause in his writing. He started writing again.

"Yeah." She frowned, and closed her eyes.

"What was it about this time?"

"The gang." She shot up on the bed.

"The Akatsuki!" He nodded. "I thought they were all locked up or in institutions!" He stopped writing. She saw his shoulder tense up.

"It's.. Sasori and Deidara. They're out there again."

"But they're-"

"I know." He interrupted, his shoulders tensed. The room was silent for a minute and she saw his shoulder shake. _'His mother's murderers are on the loose again. Why would he call Gaara to tell him something like this.'_ She mentally cursed Gaara's father as she looked at how upset Gaara was about this.

She got up and crawled over to where he was by the headboard. He sat there with his head down and his hands clenched into fists around his pen and book which rested on his bent knees. She knelled in front of him and took them out of his hands and placed them on the bedside table. She pushed his knees apart, and crawled up his chest, resting her head on his shoulder wrapped her arms around him. He paused, looking at her for a moment, before wrapping his arms tightly around her and burying his face in her shoulder. It was only then that he stopped holding himself back and sobbed. After a few minutes of that, he realized she was whispering to him as she held onto him.

"Shhh. It's okay Gaara.. I'm here.. Shh.." He held onto her tighter, threading a hand into her hair at the back of her neck and holding her to him.

"..Naruto... Thank you."

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A/N: So. Technically, it is not the end of may yet. So I held up one dead line. *wipes sweat off forehead* I'm even gonna post the next chapter right away. I'm just spell checking everything. I dropped my laptop the other day and the E key came off, and I've been having trouble with it. As in it doesn't work. Like, ever. Just before I started writing this note, I was checking over this one, and I swear to god, I added like, 25 E's. Haha. Anyways. I'll get working on checking the next one. Expect it in, oh, say, ten minutes?

Oh, on a side note. If you feel that Gaara is very OOC at the end of this one, it's not just you. I dunno what happened.. I was typing and then all of a sudden WHAM. What the hell.

That's also part of why I made sure both chapters were done. Hopefully it will draw attention away from this.. pile of plot vomit. That's what it is basically. I like, plot vomited all over the place here.

Ah. I'll shut up before I ramble more. Hey! Drop a review if you're feeling generous! I could always use some more of those delicious, delicious reviews... Mmmm... *Starts drooling*

Heheh.

Until next time,

Naru-Koi.


	7. The Aftermath

Chapter 7: The Aftermath.

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Naruto opened her eyes to find herself lying on her back staring at the ceiling. She was half hanging off her bed, with an arm around her, keeping her from falling off. She blinked; confused, and then remembered the talk with Gaara before they'd fallen asleep. She pulled herself up and looked over to see Gaara nuzzling his face into a pillow, one arm under the pillow holding it to his head, and one arm stretched across to wrap around her waist. She smiled gently at him. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the bedside table.

**2:47 A.M.**, it blared at her in neon red. She groaned lightly. She looked down to see herself and Gaara dressed in their clothes from the day before. She closed her eyes in annoyance, but knew she wouldn't be able to sleep like this now that she noticed, so she got up while gently pulling Gaara's arm off of her and went over to her dresser to grab some pyjamas and headed out to the bathroom to change. When she got back, Gaara was sitting up on the edge of the bed, rubbing his face. He looked up when she came in and grinned sheepishly before looking away.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to fall asleep like that." She shrugged.

"I don't mind. It's fine really. Not the first time we slept in the same bed." She brushed it off nonchalantly. He rolled his eye when she wasn't looking. _'Really now. With an over protective sister like Kyuubi, you'd think she'd be bothered by something like this..' _He watched as she went to the closet and dug to the back. She pulled out an old pair of sweat pants and a worn t shirt. She came over and handed them to him. "Here. Go get changed. We need to get to sleep." She yawned, and motioned for him to go and change. He rolled his eyes.

"Where am I sleeping? Guest room?" She looked at him like he was stupid.

"In my bed, dummy. Now go change. I'm cold and I wanna get back to sleep." He shook his head and smiled in amusement. _'Then again, she never was one for innocence and subtlety.' _He laughed and stood up, waving his hand at her when she asked why he was laughing.

"No reason. Go lie down Naru. I'll be right back." He walked out, leaving her standing there confused. She pouted.

"Stupid. Always hiding things from me."

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Gaara tossed his clothes in the hamper in the hallway. Maybe if they woke up early enough he could wash them before going to school. He frowned.

"I wonder what she expects me to wear tomorrow if they're not done in time?" He wondered aloud, as he walked down the hall. He walked back in the room to see Naruto sitting on the edge of the bed, a frown on her face. He leaned on the door frame and grinned. "Penny for your thoughts." She jolted and looked up at him.

"Huh?" He grinned at her expression.

"Penny for your thoughts." He repeated. She blinked.

"Oh.. It's nothing. I was just lost in thought." He rolled his eyes.

"That's what the expression is all about. Ah.. Never mind." He rubbed the back of his neck. "So uh, how do we do this?" Naruto raised an eyebrow, and patted the bed beside her.

"It's not our wedding night. Just get your ass over here and get in bed." He flushed and glared at her as he walked over and climbed onto the bed and laid down on the other side. She smirked as she pulled the covers up over them as she laid down on her stomach beside him. "Don't worry so much Gaara. I'm not gonna jump you in your sleep, and I know you won't do it to me. It's cool." Gaara rolled his eyes and laced his hands together behind his head.

"Tch. You're too easy going Naru. People will take advantage of you if you don't learn how to take care of yourself." Naruto smiled at him warmly.

"Well I don't have to worry about that since I have you, right?" He looked over at her and saw how trusting she looked right then. He smiled reassuringly at her.

"Right." She smiled and closed her eyes. "Night Gaara."

"Goodnight Naruto." His smiled faded as he watched her lying there. She looked so defenceless. People really would take advantage of her without a second thought. '_Sure, I'm here for you now..' _He thought. He continued watching until her breathing started to even out, and then turned his head and looked up towards the ceiling. _'But, what about when I'm not there to protect you?' _He thought about that morning before when Uchiha cornered her in the classroom. '_If he's willing to do that in such a public place, there's no telling what he'd do if he cornered her in private.' _

His hands tightened into fists and he lowered them and glowered at the ceiling. '_Uchiha.' _He gritted his teeth._ 'If he thinks I'm gonna let him take Naruto from me, he's sadly mistaken.' _He looked over at Naruto sleeping peacefully beside him. He snorted quietly, reached up and brushed some hair away from her closed eyes. His face softened.

"Don't worry Naru. I'll do my best, 'kay?" He whispered to her. She mumbled something in her sleep and twitched her nose, before her face relaxed into sleep again. He smiled and closed his eyes.

"Thanks."

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"Damn it Naruto. I'm not wearing your jeans!" He insisted. She groaned.

"I told you though. Kyuu put your jeans in the wash! They're still wet, you can't wear them!" She yelled. They were currently standing outside Naruto's bedroom. Naruto had just gotten out of the shower and Gaara asked if he could use the shower next, and where his jeans were, because they weren't in the hamper anymore. Naruto stood there with dripping hair and a towel around her neck, dressed in skinny jeans and a tank top under an old sweater of Gaara's he'd left here once last winter. Gaara was standing in the sweats and tee shirt he'd slept in.

Gaara crossed his arms and stomped back to the room, exasperated. Naruto followed annoyed, and went to the dresser and grabbed out the jeans she'd offered.

"Then I'll stay here and wait until they're done." Naruto huffed and threw the jeans at him.

"Look at the label damn it! They're guy jeans anyways! Just take them, we gotta go if we're gonna meet Hinata in time so she's not late along with us!" He stopped and glared at her.

"That is not the point. They're all ripped up! That's not my style! I don't wanna look like a cheap poser." He explained, annoyed.

"Since when do you care what you look like!" She asked, frustrated. He opened his mouth and shut it.

"Since never. Whatever. I'll wear them." He grabbed the jeans and stormed out. She waited until she was sure he was gone before sighing heavily and flopping onto her bed, throwing an arm over her eyes.

"Damn~ I thought I'd never get him in the shower." She smirked. "I always win. I don't know why he fights me." She got up and went downstairs to grab something to eat. Kyuubi was in the kitchen, buttering toast.

"Hey Naru chan! What was with all the commotion?" Naruto rolled her eyes and grabbed an apple out of the fridge.

"Gaara wanted to wear his jeans. He insisted on staying here until they were done." Kyuubi raised an eyebrow.

"You're going to school though, right?" Naruto nodded.

"Of course. I convinced him to take that pair of jeans I bought last spring." Kyuubi grinned.

"The ripped ones or the ones with paint on them?" Naruto grinned evilly at her.

"The ripped ones." Kyuubi laughed.

"I can't wait to see him in those. I bet he'll look pretty-" Naruto covered her ears and started singing. Kyuubi smirked and shook her head. "Immature." Naruto stuck her tongue out.

"I don't wanna hear your pervy thoughts. Go get ready for work!" Naruto scolded. Kyuubi laughed as she headed for the doorway, toast in hand.

"Do you guys want a ride?" She asked before she was out of sight. Naruto made a face.

"No, we're walking. Hinata will be here in half an hour to walk with us. Thanks though!" Naruto finished off the apple and tossed it in the trash before heading upstairs. She walked into the room and didn't see Gaara. She put her hands on her hips, and huffed in annoyance. "Is he_ still_ in the shower?"

"Nope. He isn't." She spun to see Gaara walking into the room in the jeans and the towel around his neck. She blushed. He looked really nice in those jeans. Her eyes caught a drop of water that was making it's way down starting from the collar bone. She realized she was staring and shook her head. _'Augh! What am I thinking! Kyuubi must be rubbing off on me..'_ He noticed her watching him. He pulled the towel up over his head to rub his hair dry and looked down at himself.

"What?" He asked, seeming oblivious. Naruto blushed as he towelled his hair off, looking somewhere around his left ankle.

"Uhm. Nothing. Did you want to borrow a shirt or something?" He rolled his eyes at how bashful she was being.

"Well mine is in the wash, so yeah." She flushed in embarrassment and went over to the closet and started looking for a shirt for him. Gaara smirked behind her back in amusement. He schooled his expression into one of nonchalance as she turned around with a shirt. He was surprised to see it was one of his that had gone missing a while ago. '_At least now I know where it was_.' He thought. He gave her a look as he took it and she looked rightfully admonished. He pulled the shirt over his head, and tugged it on. He smiled as the shirt fell into place. It was one of his favourites, and the fabric was worn out enough that it was very comfortable, but not enough that it looked patchy.

"Why was this in the back of your closet?" Naruto shrugged.

"Dunno. We should get going soon though. Where's my phone?"

"Nice subject change. It's in the bathroom." She glanced at him.

"Wait, what?" He shrugged.

"It was on the counter."

"And you didn't grab it for me?" She asked, annoyed. He raised an invisible eyebrow.

"No. I didn't think to." He snapped, grabbed his bag and sweater and walked out. She stood there in the middle of the room alone. She sighed and shook her head.

"What is with all the drama today?" She muttered to herself.

.

.

.

After they met up with Hinata they had to head straight to school, so Naruto whined most of the way about how now she had to wait until after school to try that new cappiccino she'd been going on about. When they got to the school, Naruto and Gaara spilt off from Hinata as she headed to her locker after meeting up with Ino, and they went ahead to the classroom. Naruto realized when the bell rang, that she hadn't done any homework last night, and started bugging Gaara to let her copy his. Unfortunately Kyuubi's lecture was still fresh in his mind so he refused, telling her he'd look over it after she finished for mistakes if she wanted. She then huffed and turned to do the work on her own, muttering about stingy redheads.

After about ten minutes, and after the bell had rung, Naruto finally turned to him again.

"Twenty minutes." Gaara glanced up at her.

"Until Kakashi arrives?" She grinned and nodded. He frowned.

"From now, or when the bell rang?" She thought for a moment, tapping her chin.

"The bell I suppose."

"Closest guess wins?"

"Mhmm." He paused.

"How much do you got?" She held up a five dollar bill. He scoffed. "That's it?" She shrugged.

"What's your guess?" He checked the time. It was already six minutes into class, but he remembered seeing Kakashi's car pulling up when they got to school, so the teacher was already here somewhere.

"Thirteen, and with no excuse." Naruto grinned, and tipped an imaginary hat.

"And your bet, my good sir?" He smiled at her antics.

"You have to do something random I ask for." She grinned.

"Ohh, interesting. What do you want?" He shook his head.

"I choose when and what it is"

"Interesting _and _mysterious, I like it." She laughed, and he grinned evilly. She looked thoughtful for a moment before eyeing him.

"Wait, I don't have to like, run through the school naked right?" He faked a hurt look, holding his chest.

"You wound me Naruto. You always think the worst of me." She playfully smacked his arm.

"Well I have no idea what to expect!" He smiled, dropping the act and winking at her.

"I promise it won't be embarrassing or revealing." She grinned. The chatter in the room died down then, and they glanced over to see Kakashi walking in, briefcase in one hand, book in the other. Gaara remembered his prank idea, and made a mental note to ask Naruto about it when Kakashi was out of hearing range. Kakashi dropped his briefcase on the desk, and wrote an assignment on the board, and turned and addressed the class.

"Okay class, good to see most of you made it today, open your books to page 250, and start these review questions. There's a test on Friday, and I want you all to spend the next few days brushing up on your history so you don't fail and make me look bad. I suggest study groups, because I know how well most of you guys study on your own." He scolded. He then walked around the side of his desk and sat back in his chair, propping his feet on the desk and opening his book.

Gaara glanced at the clock, and noticed it was a quarter past 9. He grinned and whispered to Naruto. "I win Naru, don't forget your half of the bet." She made a face and passed him the five.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't spring it on me out of the blue." Gaara laughed.

"But that's the best part." Naruto frowned and turned to start her work. Gaara smiled inwardly, and opened his textbook, flipping the pages. He found the page, and then turned to a new page in his note book, writing down the page number. He had started on the assignment, and was distracted by Kakashi's voice. A late arrival he assumed. When the chair beside him became occupied by someone, he glanced up, ready to tell them to fuck off, and was met with a surprise of sorts.

Shikamaru Nara was sitting next to him, facing him, with a notebook lying untouched and closed on the desk, spinning a pencil between his fingers. He was wearing straight legged jeans and a simple sweater, and his hair was up in that damn trademark ponytail of his.

Gaara cleared his throat when he didn't start talking, and made a gesture that translated to 'what the hell are you doing over here?'. Shikamaru's lip turned up a bit in the corner, and glanced to make sure they weren't being watched, then pushed the notebook onto Gaara's desk. Gaara was confused, and shot Shikamaru a look before opening the book. In elegant writing was the following on the first page:

_I saw what went down with Uzamaki and Uchiha yesterday, and I gotta say, you've gained some respect from me. _

_I also know you've got a thing for her. _

_I'm on your side though, and I want you to know I've got her back for whenever you're not around to save her._

Gaara looked up at Shikamaru, confused as all hell. '_He wanted to.. help protect Naruto?'_ He looked down at the writing again and pondered the situation for a moment. '_Why would he want to help? He probably dislikes Uchiha too, seeing as he claimed he knew that I like her, and said he'd protect her when I'm not able to..'_

Gaara quickly jotted a note down and gave it to Shikamaru. He read it over, red tingeing his cheeks, and looked around. He then turned to him and nodded, holding out a hand. Gaara gave a slight grin that looked more like a sneer to the untrained eye, and shook it. Shikamaru gave a lazy grin back, eyes crinkling in the corners.

"Deal."

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A/N: Ahh. There we go. Sort of awesome, very drama filled in the beginning, but I thought I'd show that their lives aren't all sunshine and rainbows. They fight like all friends do occasionally. (But am I the only one who thinks they fight like a couple?) Eh. They are the main pairing after all, but that's besides the point.

Oh. By the way. I'm currently writing chapter 10. Just so you know. The reasons I'm not posting all the chapters that are "written" at once is,

A. I haven't worked out all the kinks

B. I haven't checked any of the grammar and spelling over yet.

C. I keep having to go back and tweak little things to reduce the plot holes.

( Otherwise this fic would resemble swiss cheese more then a romance story. Har-Dee har har. )

D. Not to mention that'd take all the suspense out of waiting for the next chapter. :B

Anyways. I _should_ have the next one up within a week or two, but two at the_ latest._ _LATEST_. I promise, promise, promise. 'Kay? :D

Until next time,

Naru koi.


	8. Bitter Nostalgia

A/N: What is this random thing? An update? AGAIN? What are you thinking Naru koi?

Haha. No, go on. Read the chapter. Enjoy! :B

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Chapter 8: Bitter nostalgia.

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Gaara looked thoughtful for a moment, and then jotted a note down. He looked it over and then slid the note book back onto Shikamaru's desk. Shikamaru flipped it open and read it over, and blushed slightly when he read what it said..

_I'll take your word for it for now, but when I'm not around, he better not touch a hair on her head. In return, I'll get you a date with Hinata._

_I may be anti-social, but I'm not stupid._

_Deal?_

Shikamaru glanced over his shoulder and around the classroom, trying to look nonchalant, but was worried someone had read it. He then turned to Gaara and nodded, holding out a hand. Gaara gave a nod and shook it. Shikamaru gave a lazy grin back.

"Deal."

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By the end of class, Naruto was annoyed. She did not understand half the crap they were supposed to be going over today, and Gaara was too busy talking to Shikamaru to pay attention to her and help her! The little murmurs that were going on behind her were also distracting her from completing the parts of the assignment she_ did _understand. By the end of class she was seething on the inside, but with Deidara and Sasori out, she didn't want to lash out at Gaara and set him off. As the bell rang, Naruto got up from her seat, and looked expectantly at Gaara. He was quietly talking to Shikamaru, but glanced to the side and stopped talking when they noticed Naruto just standing there looking pointedly at them.

"Are you coming?" She asked. Gaara shook his head.

"I'll catch up with you later." Naruto huffed, and shook a finger at him.

"You shouldn't skip class, you know." She scolded. Gaara just rolled his eyes, and made a shooing motion.

"I'll see you at lunch Naru. Now go to class." Gaara sighed as Naruto glared at him and stomped off, grabbing Hinata as she went, probably bruising the poor girl's arm by the looks of it. He'd make sure to make it up to Hinata later.

"She's quite troublesome." Gaara looked over at Shikamaru who was hesitating by his desk, obviously waiting for Gaara. Gaara's lip quirked, and he stood as he gazed at the door where they disappeared.

"You don't know the half of it." He muttered to himself. Shikamaru gave him a questioning look, but Gaara just shook his head. "It's nothing." He muttered. Shikamaru nodded slowly, a little confused, and with that they walked out of the classroom. Gaara motioned to the east hall when he saw Shikamaru walking off, catching his attention.

"A sit on the rooftop sounds good right now, wouldn't you think?" Shikamaru scrunched up his face, and looked at his watch.

"Alright, but only till 10:30, otherwise the heat of the sun will give me a _terrible_ sun stroke, and I'll die a painful and horrific death because of it, and I'll have to come back and haunt you.." He deadpanned. Gaara looked at him like he was nuts. Shikamaru responded by wiggling his fingers and making "Ooo" sounds. Gaara laughed,

"You're nuts." Shikamaru continued to do it, and Gaara caught sight of a few student's faces as they passed them. Let's just say they were a pretty odd pair. The school bad ass, and the renowned genius. Both are known for being motionless and antisocial at times. Gaara shook his head and snarled at some kid who looked like he was about to stop and open his mouth. The kid jumped and ran off down the hall.

Gaara snorted, and walked off. Shikamaru laughed and followed. He slowly made his way after Gaara, wondering if he was serious about hooking him up with a date with Hinata. His face flushed, and he ran a hand over it. He'd spoken to her quite a few times, but they were barely friends, and often her timid demeanour distracted her from any advances he'd tried to make in the past. He picked up his pace, and walked on with thoughts of Hinata front and foremost in his mind, a slight smile on his face.

.

.

When they finally reached the roof, Shikamaru sighed and flopped gracefully against the building and closed his eyes. Gaara followed suit, and they sat in a simple silence for a few minutes before Shikamaru spoke up. He looked over at Gaara with one eye open.

"So, do you feel like explaining the Naruto situation? I know you guys aren't dating, but honestly, there's rumours going around. You can only hold hands with a chick so many times before the gossip starts." Gaara grimaced, and thudded his head against the wall, exhaling loudly.

"I was hoping this wouldn't happen." He paused, "The rumours I mean." Shikamaru pulled a toothpick out of his pocket and stuck it between his teeth.

"Well, what is up between you two?" Gaara pulled his knees up to his chest, and rested his arms on them.

"I don't even know where to start." Shikamaru cleared his throat.

"Well, you know. They say the beginning is the best place to start." Gaara looked at him for a few seconds, face blank. Shikamaru started feeling worried. Sure, this guy just spent the last hour talking civilly with him, but he still had a reputation. He was about to say something, and Gaara's face split into a grin wide enough that it showed off his canines. He laughed, and looked out across the roof.

"Right. Well then I'll start when I first met her.. It was like, mid October, and I was nine. I was walking through a park near a elementary school, when I saw these two big kids picking on this little boy." He paused, and glanced at Shikamaru. "You know, I've never been one to start fights and hurt people with no reasons behind it, no matter what people say about me." He waited for Shikamaru to nod before going on. "So, I see these two big kids beating up this little kid, and I get really pissed off. I was always picked on in the early days, so I didn't take any shit from anyone, even at that age. So I run over, and jump of the back of the older looking one, I think he looked about twelve tops, and tackle him down. When I get him down I get a few good punches in as I yell about how it's not nice to pick on people smaller then you. The little kid gets a shot of courage then, and kicks the other big kid in the shins and jumps up from where he'd been held down and attacks the big one.

"Long story short, we kick their asses, and they run off cursing us. I walk over to the little kid and ask if he's okay, and he gets in my face and yells at me to not fight other people's battles for them." Gaara laughed. "I was really surprised. I kinda expected to be thanked, but to be yelled at? That was the last thing I'd expected. I just shook my head and told him to watch out for himself better and walked away. Just as I was leaving the park, he yelled at me." Gaara smiled, looking nostalgic. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"What'd he say?"

"'Hey racoon eyes! What's your name!'" Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"What'd you say?" Gaara smiled.

"'I'm Gaara, what's yours?' and he responded with 'Naruto Uzamaki, believe it! I'm the ruler of this play ground!'" Shikamaru's eyes widened as he caught on.

"You thought Naruto was a boy?" He asked, bewildered. Gaara snickered.

"Well it is a boy name. And she was dressed in boy's clothes, and had really short hair. I assumed it was a boy." Shikamaru nodded, looking a little amused.

"So what happened?" He chuckled. Gaara shrugged.

"I told him that was an impressive title. He grinned at me, and told me to come by again sometime, and maybe he'd make me his knight." Gaara sighed. "I didn't see her again for a year.." Shikamaru frowned.

"What happened?" Gaara shrugged, looking somber.

"She doesn't talk about it. I remember running into her about a month before my eleventh birthday." Gaara frowned. "You know those little whisker-like scars on her face?" Shikamaru nodded.

"She got them sometime in that year when we didn't see each other. She has a bunch of other scars too. You know how she wears those bandages around her throat?" Shikamaru nodded, his eyes wide. "That happened then too. Looked like someone tried to strangle her violently, in all honesty. But the rest of them.. They were a lot bigger and more serious looking back then. She had something done a couple years back and most of them are pretty much faded out now. But needless to say, because of that, when I ran into her, I almost thought it was a different kid. But she looked up at me with those big blue eyes and said "Gaara-coon! You never came back!" I was stunned to say the least." He laughed heartily. "We were in the middle of a store at the time, and the customers around us broke into laughter, and I'm just standing there dumbstruck, wondering how I managed to run into this little runt again." Gaara frowned, and stretched his legs out.

"I was with my mother at the time.. She asked Naruto where her parents were, and she looked up at us with a smile and said 'Dead.'" Shikamaru inhaled sharply.

"Shit." Gaara nodded.

"I know. My mother started fretting over her, when suddenly this tall pretty redhead came storming into the store and came right over to Naruto and started yelling at her about running off again." Gaara snickered. "That when I realized Naruto was a girl. Her sister, Kyuubi; the redhead, kept calling her Naru-chan. That and I realized she now had hair past her shoulders.

"My mother started in about how they shouldn't be running around alone, and where was their guardian, and why Naruto had all those injuries, and all that. Kyuubi gave her this annoyed look, and said she was the one responsible for Naruto, and that it wasn't our business. My mother was outraged to say the least. Kyuubi wouldn't stand to hear any of it though, and stormed off. I managed to hand Naruto my number on a scrap of paper. As Naruto got tugged away, she looked back at me, and she looked so sad, like she was losing a friend." Gaara stopped for a second, and rubbed his eyes.

"When Kyuubi was pulling her away, I heard her ask why Naruto had run to me, and Naruto said I was her "Shining Knight" who'd saved her from those "really bad kids from the paper" a long time ago. When she said that, Kyuubi looked back at me and met my eyes.." He trailed off. Shikamaru watched him, quiet and waited for him to speak.

"At the time I didn't understand what the look she gave me meant, but a few years ago Kyuubi told me that those kids ended up almost killing another ten year old later that month, after I'd saved Naruto. Apparently, their parents were into a lot of bad shit, gang related. It was really messed up." He sighed heavily. "I just don't understand how parents can let there kids get so involved in stuff like that. Anyways. When Kyuubi told me this, she told me about how when the story was printed in the newspaper, Naruto pointed them out to her by name, and said a Knight named Gaara had saved her from them a few months before. They'd been trying to find me to thank me." Gaara paused and pulled a water bottle out of his bag. Shikamaru just shook his head in wonder.

"Wow, I didn't know you guys had such a history." Gaara shrugged drinking, and tossing the bottle back in.

"That was only til we were 10 and 11." Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head, and sighed.

"Tch. Troublesome woman, if you ask me. Will the rest of the story take long?" Gaara rolled his eyes.

"What time is it?"

"10:26"

"Eh. I could give you the shorter version." Shikamaru sighed, sounding relieved. Gaara rolled his eyes. "I gotta tell you though, you're missing out on quality story telling." Shikamaru snorted.

"Yeah, I'll take my chances." Gaara rolled his eyes.

"So anyways, where was I. Eleven, right? Basically, she ended up calling me a couple days later, asking if she could come over that weekend, because Kyuubi had to work an overnight shift and she didn't like staying home alone. My father was away on business, so my mother agreed. It became a regular thing for us. But one night me and my mother were out.. And she..she.." He stopped suddenly, turned his face away. Shikamaru tilted his head, and looked at Gaara, and waited until he calmed down some before asking the question for which he was getting the feeling he already knew the answer to.

"What happened that night?" He asked quietly. There was a long pause, before Gaara turned his head away from Shikamaru so he couldn't see his face. Then he spoke, and it was with a cold voice. A voice of someone who'd seen the most important person to them at one point be torn from them.

"She was murdered."

_._

_._

A/N: THAT WAS DARK. Holy crap. Like, I totally wanted all that to go in the story, don't get me wrong, but it's so dark! D: Poor Gaara..

Ah, anyways. There you go. Chapter 8, way ahead of schedule. If I'm still feeling awesome later, I can probably give you Chapter 9 tonight, and maybe even Chapter 10 tomorrow.

I'll update 10 by itself though. Wanna know why? Over 6000 words. D: Ridiculous. The worst part of it is that I don't want to change how the chapter is set up, and I don't wanna split it in half, so bear with me on that one.

I don't think all my updates are gonna be this quick, but my muse has been just tossing idea after idea at me these past few days, and I just keep writing! I'm almost done with chapter 12! It won't stop! In all honesty, I've barely slept lately. Just write, work, and eat. Maybe I'll just like, drink half a bottle of cold medicine or something. Jeez.

I won't. Really. It's just getting ridiculous.

Anyways. So look for another update tonight. Might not be until later in the night, like, Eleven. Maybe 12. I have to work late and I got some stuff to do after work. Speaking of it, I have to go right away, so I'll leave you alone now.

Leave a review if you'd like. :)

Until next time,

Naru-koi.


	9. Confessions

Chapter 9: Confessions

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Shikamaru was silent. He wanted to say something, but he knew words wouldn't help much. Gaara still wasn't looking at him. Shikamaru let out a quiet sigh, and rubbed his forehead.

"I'm sorry." He said sincerely, turning towards Gaara. He saw Gaara nod his head, and faced forwards, eyes darting to the side and saw Shikamaru watching him. He gave a small sad smile.

"Yeah. Doesn't matter though. It's in the past." He mumbled. Shikamaru shook his head. He didn't understand why Gaara was brushing it off, but it was obviously a really sensitive topic, so he just rested his head back against the wall and stayed quiet. Suddenly Gaara was moving. He pushed himself away from the wall and stood up. Shikamaru made to stand up but he made a motion at him with his hands, telling him to stay down. "I need to walk." He explained, and started pacing in front of Shikamaru. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, but settled back down.

"You okay?" He asked cautiously, eyes following Gaara as he passed in front of him again. Gaara shrugged. He opened his mouth to speak and just ended up closing it. This repeated five times before he stopped and looked down at Shikamaru.

"It's just.. I don't tell people about this very often. The only ones who know the whole story are my siblings, Naruto, and her sister." Shikamaru blinked in surprise. Gaara nodded. "Yeah. Like, people know my mother passed, but they don't know how or why.." He trailed off. Shikamaru was wondering something and decided it couldn't hurt to ask.

"You mean your father doesn't know?" Gaara sneered and started pacing again.

"Of course not. That ignorant jerk doesn't want to hear the whole story, even now. All he wanted to know was why I didn't prevent it. How the fuck am I supposed to stand up to gang members twice my age at least, that have weapons, when I'm eleven!" Shikamaru's eyebrows rose.

"Wait, gang members?" Gaara glanced at him and squinted for a second.

"Yeah. The Akatsuki." He said, watching Shikamaru's reaction. Shikamaru's eyes shot wide open, and he jumped up also.

"Wait, the Akatsuki killed your mother?" He exploded. Gaara placed a hand on his shoulder, pushing him away a bit. He gave him a slight glare.

"Yeah." He moved away and walked over to the railing. Shikamaru's shoulder drooped. He walked over and turned to lean back on the railing himself about a foot away from Gaara. Gaara ran a hand through his hair, and let out a long sigh.

"It happened in November, right after I'd turned eleven." He started, dropping his arms to rest on the rail and looked out across the school yard. "We were walking home late in the evening after spending the day out, my mother and I. I told her that taking the back way wasn't a good idea. But we'd been gone for longer then expected, and my father has a bad temper." At this Shikamaru raised his eyebrows. Gaara nodded, not even bothering to look at him, but assuming his reaction.

"Yeah, he was abusive. That's not part of the story though. Anyways. When we were about half way down they alley, and mind you, we were only a block from home at this point, we saw these guys step out from this doorway about ten feet in front of us." He closed his eyes. "My mother grabbed my hand and started walking faster, hoping we could pass them without any trouble.." He stopped again, putting his head in his hands.

"We only got a few feet before they saw us. My mother whispered to me that if they stopped us, we'd give over all our stuff and run when it was safe to. She said we'd be fine.. She was wrong." His voice cracked. Shikamaru looked away, respecting Gaara enough to not watch as he choked, trying to calm down again. It took several minutes before Gaara was able to continue.

"They didn't even speak to us at first. Simply walked out into the alley in front of us and wouldn't let us pass. Then my mother tried to reason with them, promising them all our belongings.. It was then that that bastard.. He jumped her." He growled out. "Of course, the other one held me back, but I saw everything. After they.. Afterwards.. He.. came over, covered in her..in her blood.." He trailed off. Shikamaru was completely horrified at this point, but was staring at Gaara. He was feeling more then sick, but couldn't help but want to know what happened to him. How did he escape these psychos?

"When he came over, they.. they.." Gaara's jaw twitched as he clenched his teeth, and his face screwed up in pain at the memory. Shikamaru's eyes widened. Torture was the assumption to make, if the expression on Gaara's face was anything to go by. He looked tortured right now, lost in his thoughts. Shikamaru stayed silent, letting Gaara have a moment. He was quiet for a while, before he started speaking again, sounding strained.

"After that.. before they left, they told me that they'd let me go, but that they'd never forget my face.. That some day they'd come to collect my life, but they couldn't at the time.. Apparently I looked too much like a young Sasori for him to finish me off." Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"Wait, you said Sasori? As in Sasori and Deidara? They're the ones who attacked you?" He gasped, horrified. Gaara nodded, a dark look settling onto his face.

"The explosives expert and the puppet master. I assure you, they are one and the same." He stopped, letting that sink in. "Look. I won't say what they did exactly, I'm sure you can assume now. What happened that night is the reason I change in a different room for gym class, and wear long sleeves and pants as often as possible. I have scars, and they aren't pleasant." He stopped, and stood up straight.

"What time is it?" Shikamaru started, and quickly checked his watch.

"10:45. Why?" Gaara shrugged, and headed towards the stairway, grabbing his bag off the ground as he passed it.

"I need to head to the gym." Shikamaru's jaw dropped at that, and he watched as Gaara walked out of sight. He shook his head, and slid down against the railings to sit. He placed his arms on his knees and sat there, not sure what to think. Suddenly Gaara's head popped back out from behind the rooftop door, startling him. He looked over at Shikamaru for a second, before asking seriously.

"I can trust you not to tell anyone about all this right?" Shikamaru opened his mouth to argue but paled as Gaara grinned widely, a touch of insanity present in his eyes. "Because if you do, I'd have to kill you." He said, and nodded; pleased when Shikamaru let out a shaky 'yes'. Gaara disappeared from view again, and Shikamaru let out a weak sigh of despair.

"Dear god. What have I gotten myself into?" He muttered, before speaking aloud to himself. "He never did finish telling me about everything with Naruto.. But. maybe that's for the best." He shrugged to himself. "I don't really want to know, if it means I get another death threat." He then sat there in silence, thinking about everything Gaara had told him.

Gaara, on the other hand, was leaning against the inside of the door and snorted. He shook his head, remembering the look on Shikamaru's face.

"That'll keep him on his toes." He chuckled darkly, as he stuck his hands in his pockets and made his way down the stairs, brooding as he went. He rolled his eyes upwards as he got to the bottom of the stairwell, realizing everything he'd spilled. "Naruto must be rubbing off on me. Telling someone I barely know about that kind of stuff. I'll have to remember to thank her for that." He muttered sarcastically.

.

.

.

When Naruto left her second class and headed for the lunchroom, she wandered down the hall, paying no mind to her surroundings. She kept thinking about how Shikamaru and Gaara were so chummy this morning. They weren't friends.. Hell, they never really even talked! So why were they being so friendly today..? He thoughts trailed off and she just walked down the hall, a strong look of concentration on her face.

Shikamaru suddenly fell into step beside her.

"Hey." He smiled.

"Ahh!" She gasped, grabbed at her chest, and shot him a look. He laughed.

"Jesus Christ! You scared me Shikamaru kun." She calmed down a touch and they slowly made their way to the lunchroom.

"Sorry. And call me Shika." He said before clearing his throat softly. She glanced at him.

"Oh?" He nodded.

"Yeah. Just call me Shika. It's what my friends call me." He smiled, looking away awkwardly. Naruto nodded, looking thoughtful. Slowly a smile formed on her face, and she grinned up at him full force.

"Alright!" As they walked towards the back of the lunch room, she hummed to herself, and sat on the bench opposite Shikamaru. She waited until Shikamaru was sitting before talking.

"So.. What were you and Gaara talking about this morning?" She grinned at him expectantly. Shika shook his head and pulled a sandwich out of nowhere and bit into it. She raised an eyebrow and he just looked pointedly at her bag as if telling her to just shut up and eat. She laughed, and pulled out her lunch.

"Really Shika, I'm just curious. You guys haven't always been the closest of friends, in fact, you guys don't even hang out at all. Now suddenly you guys are talking? It's just not something that happens everyday. Especially for Gaara." He shrugged.

"I don't know. He seems like an okay guy, and I wanted to talk to him about something. We found out we have some common interests, so to speak." She frowned.

"So.. is it a genius thing?" Shika gave her an incredulous look, and burst out laughing. Naruto bit her lip, trying to keep herself from laughing too. His laugh was very contagious. Soon enough she was laughing along with him. He finally stopped enough to talk, but kept grinning as he did so.

"No, it's not a genius thing. We've come to a mutual understanding on a situation, and decided our friendship was in everyone's best interest." Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Right.." Shikamaru just grinned and continued eating. He had told the truth. He just tiptoed around all the details. No need to bring up unnecessary topics. Naruto didn't think that was the whole story, but she let it drop for now.

.

.

Gaara was dismissed from his gym class, which was right before lunch. He was anxious to see Naruto again, to make sure she was alright. As he was slipping between the students trying to get to the lunchroom quickly, someone bumped into him, and he glared their way, making the student to jump back. As the shock wore off, no remarks could be made, seeing as he was already gone. His eyes scanned the crowd, narrowing every time he saw a flash of dark hair, and relaxing again when he realized it wasn't Uchiha.

Finally, he rounded the last corner and slipped through a crowd and into the lunchroom, quickly scanning heads to find Naruto. He saw her in the back of the lunch room, sitting with Shikamaru. He sighed inwardly in relief, and calmly made his way over to their table. Naruto looked up as he approached, and grinned at him.

"Hey Gaara, how was gym with Gai?" Gaara just shook his head in disgust and sat down, dropping his bag on the table.

"I don't wanna go back. Ever." She grimaced sympathetically.

"That bad?" He just nodded and pulled out his lunch.

"You guys are so lucky to have had Asuma. I'd kill to get into that guy's class." Shikamaru just sighed.

"You're making a big deal out of nothing. It's not like he's that.. bad.." He trailed off, seeing as Gaara was blatantly staring at him now. He stuttered, trying to find the right words, and exploded at Shikamaru.

"NOT THAT BAD? Are you deranged? He's a freaking weirdo!" He yelled, waving his hands around, only succeeding in making himself look foolish. Naruto laughed, and Shikamaru shook his head.

"I really don't know what you're talking about. I know he has some odd teaching methods, but sometimes that's an attribute of a good teacher." Gaara was just sitting there, his mouth slightly ajar. Shikamaru sighed, and Naruto was laughing uncontrollably. Gaara suddenly got really serious, poking the table in an authoritative manner.

"Okay then. Listen to this. Today, he made us run 100 laps in class. Those who couldn't complete it, have to stay after school and show their 'Flaming passion of youth'-" He stopped to do air quotes around it, and paused as that made Naruto laugh harder. He decided to ignore her and continue. "-by staying after school and doing 200 more." Shikamaru shook his head.

"Okay, so maybe he's a little more.. focused then other teachers. But that doesn't make him a 'weirdo' Gaara." They both looked over at Naruto because she slapped a hand over her mouth to try and stop the laughter. They both just stopped and stared at her for a moment. She calmed down a bit then, as Gaara's glaring was starting to get to her. She was still grinning widely when she spoke though.

"So Gaara, did you finish all your laps today?" He snorted.

"Hell yeah I did, I get enough of the spandex clad wonder in class. I don't need it after school too." Gaara shook his head, looking utterly miserable. Naruto's lip was twitching, but she knew he was being serious so she didn't want to offend him. She patted his head.

"Poor Gaara. You'll be alright. Only a few more months of him, and you'll be done." He glared at her.

"Stop that. I'm not a puppy, I refuse to be 'petted'. Keep it up and I won't help you in class anymore." She glared back at him.

"Oh, you mean like today? 'Cause you did such a wonderful job this morning!" Shikamaru sighed and tuned them out as the fight went on. Hopefully they would stop soon. He really wasn't in the mood for dealing with such energetic people. _'I guess I shouldn't have decided to make friends with Naruto and Gaara if I didn't want to be around energetic people. Not a smart move Shikamaru..'_

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A/N: Blah, blah, blah. See? Look at that. I did it. And before midnight too. * pats myself on the back *

So basically, expect Chapter 10 tomorrow. Like, definately. :)

Review~ It's like crack to me! * twitches *

Until next time,

Naru Koi.


	10. Untitled

Chapter 10: Untitled

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After school, Gaara and Shikamaru were waiting outside the school for Naruto, who had run back inside to grab something she forgot. Shikamaru was just leaning on the wall of the school by the door, looking at the clouds passing overhead. Gaara was watching the crowds of people, still persisting in his search of Sasuke.

"You know, he's not here today." Gaara flinched and looked over at Shikamaru. He was staring at the sky, but there was a smirk on his face. Gaara scowled.

"I know that. I wasn't looking for him." He huffed and crossed his arms. Shikamaru snorted, but let it drop. Right then Naruto burst out the doors, and flung herself on Gaara.

"Hooray! Another day done!" She grinned cheekily at Shikamaru, who looked slightly uncomfortable. "Does Shika want a hug too?" He smiled warily.

"No, I'm okay. Maybe another day. Thanks for the offer though." She winked at him.

"I'll hold you to it!" She turned to Gaara, and clasped her hands with a pleading face. "It's Thursday! Can I invite him?" She made the puppy dog eyes, and Gaara sighed.

"You might as well ask him, it's not up to me." She grinned, and turned to Shikamaru. "What're you doing after school today?" He frowned, and thought for a second. He shrugged.

"Nothing really, why?" She grinned and grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the gates.

"Because I'm hungry! Let's go!" He shot a look at Gaara who shrugged and followed along. After about five minutes of being tugged along, they stopped in front of Naruto's favourite restaurant. She breathed in the smell of food, and grinned as she pulled a reluctant Shikamaru -who she hadn't let go of yet- and a placated Gaara inside. Shikamaru looked at Gaara briefly and made a face that clearly said this was not his idea of getting something to eat. Gaara shrugged, and followed them to Naruto's favourite booth.

Naruto didn't bother looking at the menu, and Gaara seemed to only be looking at his for something to do. This was obviously something they did often. He was a little flattered that they invited him along. Obviously these two took making new friends to a whole new level, considering he'd only really hung out with Gaara today, and only saw Naruto at lunch.. and they were inviting him out for dinner? He broke from his thoughts as Naruto smiled and pushed one of the menu's towards Shikamaru.

"Choose something! It's on me this time!" She grinned at him excitedly. He stared down at the menu, trying to find something that seemed appealing. Ramen-based shops were something he steered clear of. He'd much rather go on Chouji's monthly buffet run then eat in such a place. He sighed and pointed out something to Naruto.

"This looks fine." She turned to Gaara.

"The usual?" He just smiled at her and nodded. She then turned and tried to get the attention of a waitress. Shikamaru sighed and Gaara gave him a sympathetic look.

"The food here is actually pretty good Shikamaru. Give it a chance." He let out a breath and nodded.

"I guess it won't kill me to try something new for once." Gaara smiled, and glanced to make sure Naruto wasn't paying attention, and whispered to Shikamaru.

"At times like this, just go along with what she does. Fighting will get you no where." Shikamaru sighed heavily. He glanced up at Gaara.

"So the food is good at least?" Gaara grinned at him, leaning his chin on his hand, as Naruto whipped her head around and smiled at him, as a waitress made her way over to take their order.

"Best ramen you'll ever eat!"

.

After they paid and left, Shikamaru and them went separate ways, Shikamaru stating something about hanging out with his dad. He thanked them both before he took off though, to Naruto's delight. As Gaara and Naruto walked down the street to his house, she grinned at him.

"I like him. He's fun. Can I invite him out with us more often?" Gaara winced inwardly at the 'I like him' part, but nodded. He then glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"You don't have to ask my permission, you know." She sort of frowned and looked down, and was quiet for a moment, then stopped walking. Gaara took a few hesitant steps before stopping as well. She wouldn't meet his eyes, and he started to worry. "Naru?" She wrung nervously and adjusted her bag strap on her shoulder.

"Well, you know.. After what happened with Sas.. Uchiha.." She fidgeted some more. "I didn't want to make you mad again." Gaara sighed, and walked over and hugged her. She wrapped her arms around him and hid her face in his sweater. "You don't have to worry about that. You didn't make me mad, Uchiha did. I was mostly angry because of how he pushed himself on you.." He trailed off, thinking. Sure, she'd freaked out when he'd walked in, and she apologized profusely.. This thoughts stopped as she mumbled something, and he asked her to speak up.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think quick enough to push him away.." She whispered. He hugged her tighter.

"If I have my way you won't have to make that decision." He muttered quietly to himself. He then pulled away from her. "Don't worry about it Naruto. And don't worry about inviting Shikamaru anywhere, it's cool. He's a nice guy. Even if I'm not around he'll take good care of you." He grinned down at her. She frowned.

"You always act like I'm some precious little collectible." She huffed and walked away. "Hurry up. It'll get dark soon." He followed her contently, rolling his eyes at her mood swing. He knew he wouldn't have to worry about her now. She'd taken a liking to Shikamaru, and that just made one more obstacle in the way of Uchiha getting to her. He hummed to himself, walking a bit quicker to catch up. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and he made an apologetic face. Her lip twitched, and she moved a little closer to him and caught his hand and gave it a squeeze, then proceeded to look the other way as if he wasn't there. He smiled.

Yeah, things were going to be okay.

.

Shikamaru leisurely strolled down the side walk friday morning, sipping at his travel mug of coffee, thinking to himself. He was curious as to whether he had made a good impression the other day, and whether or not he indeed had someone to talk to today apart from his regular friends. He sighed. It was too cold out and way too early to be thinking so deeply. He pulled the scarf tighter around his neck and cursed the weather. He was startled out of his thoughts soon by someone shouting his name. He glanced back to see Naruto and Gaara down the street behind him, and paused for a minute so they could catch up. Obviously his thoughts hadn't been all that positive, but really. Being the smartest kid in school doesn't always give you the best reputation.

He smiled at them as they came closer and waved a bit. They both greeted him warmly, which was nice, though a little surprising from Gaara. He knew that Gaara was always kind to Naruto, but it was nice to not see him glaring 24/7. He smirked inwardly. Not that Gaara didn't still have an intimidating presence, especially when other people were around and he refrained from showing emotions, which Shikamaru didn't understand at all. Suddenly Shikamaru realized Naruto was talking to him.

".. later today?" Shikamaru made an apologetic face.

"Sorry, could you repeat that? I was miles away." She grinned.

"I asked if you wanted to hang out with us again later today?" Shikamaru shrugged, and made a vague gesture with his hand.

"As long as I don't have any plans by 3:30, then that sounds fine." He glanced at her warily. "What did you have in mind?" Naruto grinned at him and said in a sing-song voice;

"It's a surprise~!" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and shot Gaara a look. He merely smiled and shrugged. He waited until they had gotten farther up the street and Naruto made a quick apology and ran up to meet Hinata, who was walking out of her house about half a block ahead of them. He then turned to Shikamaru.

"I don't know what's going on either. Though knowing Naruto, probably a movie night." He glanced at Shikamaru. "If you don't feel comfortable hanging out at our houses yet it's okay. I'll most likely get her to crack before the end of the day so you'll have some warning if you want to make an excuse." Shikamaru shrugged.

"I don't really care one way or the other. As long as I'm not imposing I'm fine with whatever she has in mind." Gaara smirked and nodded. They walked in silence for a minute, before Shikamaru's curiosity got to him. "So how are things with you and her?" Gaara gave him a look that said 'not now', seeing as they were drawing close to the girls. Shikamaru nodded and went along with it.

"Come on you guys, hurry up!" Naruto shouted at them, even though they were only a few feet away. Gaara glared at her.

"Oh shut it. You're the one who is always running late." She glared back and stuck out her tongue.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I don't want to get there later then Kakashi!" She huffed and walked off, leaving Hinata in the dust. She blushed and looked down when they guys both looked at her.

"Good morning." She mumbled timidly. They both greeted her back, and they continued on their way to school. She was trailing behind them a bit, not wanting to intrude, lest they started talking about something that didn't concern her. Soon enough though Gaara paused until she was walking beside him, then gently hooked his arm through hers and pulled her into stride with them. He smiled down at her.

"No need to be shy Hinata, we're all friends here." Hinata blushed and looked away, accidentally catching Shikamaru's eye. He smiled tentively at her, and she returned it hesitantly. After a minute she realized he was still watching her, so she gave him a questioning look. He grinned.

"You look really nice today Hinata san." She flushed and looked away, before muttering a quiet, but still meaningful 'thank you'. Shikamaru grinned, and tried to remember what else they had told him in the restraunt last night. You see, shortly through their meal, while Naruto had gone to the restroom, Shikamaru and Gaara had started talking about ways to get Hinata to notice him in the first place, because with how timid she was all the time, he wouldn't be able to just walk up to her and ask her out like any other girl. Shikamaru agreed, it made perfect sense. He knew Gaara was only being realistic, but was still a little miffed at not getting a date straight away. But if it was for Hinata, he'd wait.

Unfortunately, Naruto came back to the table without their notice, until of course, she asked loud enough for people three tables over to hear. "YOU LIKE HINATA?" Shikamaru, was of course, pretty embarrassed, but he let it slide, seeing as after Gaara tugged her down into the booth and hurriedly explained the situation, she jumped in with a few ideas of her own.

.

_She gave him a serious look from across the table. "You have to compliment her." He nodded and she shook her head. _

"_I mean more then you might usually compliment a girl. You know the rivrialy between her and her cousin's family, right? Well whenever she loses to Neji at something her father really rips into her. She really needs a confidence boost, and I think you can give it to her." Gaara was nodding along with him now. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Of course, what guy wouldn't want advice on how to woo a girl from the very girl they were after? Naruto saw his rolled eyes, but took it as a response to something she had said. "And make sure you only use compliments you mean. Never lie to her about something like how she looks or your opinion on something she's done. If you don't know any compliment to give her in regards to whatever, just be pleasant. It can't hurt." _

_Gaara cut in. "Try and give her a small gift here and there; just a little something to cheer her up, or something that lets her know you were thinking of her. Don't over do it, and try not to spend much money on whatever it is, unless you really think she'd like it." Naruto laughed, and Gaara looked a little ticked. "Hey now! That was good advice." _

"_Well, yes, but the spending money thing doesn't really matter. If you want to buy her some flowers, for instance, and you find that her favourite flowers don't bloom here at the time you want to get them for her, go to a specialty shop and buy her some. If you can find them growing wildly, pick a few instead. And mind you she's not one for extravagance. Three or four flowers is fine, don't go buying two dozen flowers or anything. Not only will you be wasting money, but she's bound to be suspicious and not accept it well." He gave her a look. _

"_Suspiscious of flowers?" She shook her head. _

"_Probably more suspicous of your intentions then anything else." He nodded, thinking. "And when you first ask her out, try and not make it feel too date-like. For instance, to a fair, where there are plenty of of people around, and you're bound to run into someone you know. Or invite her and a couple other friends to a movie, not too many, maybe four or five people in total." She winked at him across trhe table. "Me and Gaara here would be happy to escort you." Shikamaru laughed, and nodded. _

"_Sounds good." Naruto grinned. _

"_Sweet." They continued eating then, because if they waited much more their food would get too cold. _

"_Oh.." Shikamaru looked up. Naruto swallowed what she had in her mouth and took a sip of water. "When you do take her out seriously for the first time, don't make it too intense. Take her to a nice diner or something, not too expensive, and treat her. Then maybe take her to that park down on Watercrest, you know, that one that's near the forest? Take her for a walk through that, make sure it's not too dark out though. And walk her home, but don't get too serious on the doorstep mister." She shook her finger at him. "If you want to kiss her, feel out how the evening has gone. Did she seem uncomfortable? Did she like it? Love it? Say your goodnights depending on how she was, not on how pretty you think she is in the moonlight." She grinned at him cheekily. He rolled his eyes. _

"_I'm not that dumb." She shrugged. _

"_I never said you were. Just keep in mind what I've said, and you should be fine."_

_._

He nodded to himself. Step one; compliments. Easy as pie. And she really did look nice today. She had on a dark purple plaid skirt that stopped shortly above the knees, a dark shirt of some really soft looking material, and a cropped leather jacket on top, with some black flats. He thought she looked quite delectable, but thought it would be extremely uncomfortable for her if he would have said it aloud. '_'Really nice' covers that though.. right?' _He grinned to himself. It was close enough. Suddenly his thoughts took a different turn. Naruto wanted to invite him to watch a movie with herself and Gaara? Couldn't they just invite Hinata along, or would it be too soon? Then again, even Gaara wasn't that positive that movies were the plan for tonight. He sighed. _'I guess I'll have to play it by ear._'

It was about a block later that he realized Gaara was still linked with Hinata. He frowned inwardly, thinking. He knew that she had a crush on Gaara, and that Gaara was interested in Naruto.. But did they have something going on? He paused and contemplated it for a few moments. '_No_,' He concluded. '_Gaara seemed like a guy who has a lot of honor. He wouldnt tell me that he was gonna hook me up with a girl if he was interested in her that way, would he..?'_

_'No.'_ He told himself more firmly._ 'I have no reason to doubt him.'_ He mused silently for a while, and soon enough Naruto latched onto his arm and steered him into the schoolyard, seeing as he was too muddled up in his thoughts to noticed he had walked quite a bit past the gate. He vaguely wondered why she hadn't stopped him sooner.

"Really Shikamaru, I just don't know what I'm going to do with you!" She scolded in an authoritive tone. He rolled his eyes and subtley shifted out of her grip.

"Jeez, sorry _mom_. Won't happen again." She laughed and walked up the steps with him, and noticing he was looking around, assumed he was aware that Gaara and Hinata weren't around.

"They went ahead. Come on, or we'll be late." She shifted through the crowd, people making room around her. He slowly ambled along behind her, snickering when she'd huff and make impatient motions for him to hurry up. It was comforting, having someone act so relaxed in his presence. The only people he normally got that from was his parents and Chouji. His teachers and peers were usually awed by his 'genius' and mildly unconventional way of speaking (meaning that he usually used proper grammar and didn't talk like a fool), that they acted as if he were someone greater in years then he actually was. It was nice sometimes, having that bit of respect, but it usually left him with a feel of lacking in his emotional state..

"..sit with us again? Hello?" He broke from his thoughts to see Naruto standing in front of him waving a hand in his face. He scrunched his nose, but said nothing. She sighed, "I know you and Gaara both have the respected-genius thing going on, but at least give us a sign if you're going into robot-mode." He raised an eyebrow.

"Robot mode?" She nodded and made a vague gesture towards him.

"You know, when you zone out and it looks like you're contemplating the meaning of life? Robot-mode." He snorted, and glanced to the back of the room to see Gaara watching them attentively.

"And Gaara does this too?" She nodded.

"Sometimes. Not so much lately." She lowered her voice, "Not since.. you know.. Sasuke came." Shikamaru saw Gaara's eye narrow a fraction and wondered at his hearing capasity. He was obviously listening to the whole conversation. Talk about no privacy. He nodded and looked back to Naruto.

"Don't worry about him anymore. You havent even seen him lately, right?" She shook her head, and smiled.

"Right. No worries. So. As I was saying when you were off in the clouds.. Are you gonna sit with your friends, or with us again?" He opened his mouth to answer, but noticed Gaara stiffen, and stand up. He was curious as to why, when a voice rang out behind him, making Naruto pale.

"I'd love to sit with you Naruto. Thank you for the gracious invite." He turned to see Sasuke Uchiha standing a little ways away from them, staring at Naruto in such a way that could only be described as disgraceful. "Of course, I only know a few people at this school _intimately, _and seeing as you're one of them, I'd assume you would know I don't have many friends here yet.."Naruto stiffened beside him and give him a slightly worried glance.

"Uh, actually, I was talking to Shikamaru.. Maybe another time?" She proposed quietly, wringing her hands He grinned slyly at her and moved closer towards them, only stopping when it was clear that Gaara was about to explode. He gave a cheeky grin that was obviously directed at Gaara's fury, but kept his eyes on Naruto and kept talking as if it were nothing.

"Why, Naruto, I can see from here that there's an empty seat beside yours today. I'd love to sit with you, and perhaps have a chat?" Naruto looked flustered, and unsure of how to answer. Gaara made to walk over to them but Shikamaru shook his head minutly at him. Sasuke grinned wider, not noticing the exchange, but was noticeably reveling in Naruto's discomfort. Shikamaru took hold of her arm, and pulled her behind him, while talking to Sasuke, masking his expression into one of pure boredom.

"Unfortunately, I told Naruto I'd help her with some questions on the assignment from yesterday, so I'll be sitting beside her. Thank you though for your kind manners in requesting a seat with the lady." He drawled in the most dismissive tone he could muster. Sasuke just turned and glared at him, but Shikamaru promptly turned from him and walked to the back of the room. As they sat, Gaara only sighed and leaned forward to brush his finger tips against the back of Naruto's neck.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled quietly. "Couldn't do anything." She turned towards him and smiled, taking his fingers and squeezing them gently.

"Don't worry about it. The last thing I wanted was you two to start fighting and Kakashi to walk in on it. You don't need the trouble." He nodded, looking slighly angered still. He turned to Shikamaru and nodded.

"Thanks." Shikamaru gave him a nod and pulled out his binder, and spared a glance at Naruto.

"Might as well go over the assignment eh? As I recall you had quite a few words to say on how Gaara ignored you yesterday." She grinned.

"Thanks." As she rummaged through her back to get out her notebook, Shikamaru shot a look at Gaara.

"On another note, where'd Hinata go?" Gaara looked at him blankly for a second, thinking.

"Oh.. She said she had to go give something to a teacher. Something about being overdue. I always assumed she would be more organized than that. I told her we'd save her a seat though." Shikamaru nodded, and was quiet, except for the few comments to Naruto when she'd ask a question. Gaara just sat and sketched in his notebook. They heard the door open, and Hinata walked in and paused as she noticed people watching her. Naruto shot up in her seat, scaring the crap out of Shikamaru and a few students around her, and yelled to Hinata to come over. She started blushing furiously and stumbled her way to the back of the room. When Hinata walked up, timidly shuffling her feet, it was obvious she had wanted to sit beside Naruto. Gaara patted the desk beside him.

"I don't bite, you know." She flushed, but sat down anyways, though she refused to meet his eyes for a while. "Sorry, but Shikamaru's just helping her with the homework. Surely I'm not that awful?" Hinata shook her head.

"I didn't want to bother you." She mumbled quietly. Gaara frowned a bit, but smiled when Hinata looked up at him.

"I told you this morning. We're all friends here. It's fine." She smiled tentively at him.

"Okay."

.

At the front of the room, Sasuke sat down next to a skanky looking girl and ignored her attempts for his attention in favour of glaring towards the back of the classroom. He'd corner her soon, and that was what mattered. As soon as he had gotten rid of that redhead and that other bodyguard who seemed to have sprung up over night, he'd have a clear shot at getting her.

He glanced one more time at her sleek blonde hair and her long legs, before turning forward and pulling out a small note book, and jotting a few ideas down in it. His plan wasn't fool-proof yet, but soon enough she'd be hanging on his every word, displayed on his arm for all to see. He grinned maliciously to himself. And if she was still persistant after all that, he'd have to take some drastic measures. It didn't matter either way. He turned and looked over his shoulder and caught her eye and winked. She flushed and looked down. He grinned to himself.

_'I'll have her in the end.' _

.

Later in the morning, Naruto was walking down the halls alone. She had just left Gaara at gym, and was heading to the library to work for a bit in peace. He had warned her to keep an eye out for Uchiha, but she was honestly just hoping that he wouldn't show up around her at all today. She wasn't in the mood for his mind games. '_Even though he is really good looking.._' She stopped and shook her head. '_No. I do _not_ like Sasuke. He's an ignorant pig.'_ She scolded herself for even thinking that, and continued on. As she was walking towards the library, she got a prickling feeling on the back of her neck, the kind you get when you feel like you're being watched. She paused and looked behind her slowly. All she saw was a teacher heading in the opposite direction, and a blonde girl getting something out of her locker, speaking to a short brunette who looked pissed off. No one was even looking in her direction. She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, but shrugged it off and continued to the library. She turned the corner, and soon the hall cleared of people. The hall was silent for a moment, before Sasuke slinked out from behind a row of lockers and sauntered after her slowly.

.

When she got to the library she headed to the back to her favourite table by the history section. Since she was basically in the middle of the history section, it was usually pretty quiet here. Only the occasional history buff or sneaky couple came back here. She sat down, and pulled out her text and her notebook and got to work. After about ten minutes, she got stuck on a question (the first question), and sighed, putting her head in her hands.

"I'm so useless at doing my own work. Where's Gaara when I need him?" She grumbled. '_Not like he'd give me the answer, that stubborn jerk. He might be able to explain how the hell this is supposed to be relevant to the topic though._' She sighed again heavily, and jumped when she noticed someone sit across from her. She looked up into the eyes of Hinata.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, "You scared me!" Hinata smiled apologetically, blushing a little.

"Sorry Naruto. I just thought it looked like you needed some help." Naruto grinned and sigh.

"Yeah, this booklet we got today in biology is a killer." She passed the booklet over to Hinata to see. "And of course," She continued, sounding annoyed; "Gaara was halfway done by the time class ended. We don't even need to hand it in until the middle of next week!" She complained and shook her head as Hinata laughed. Hinata grabbed the biology textbook from Naruto and looked at where she was looking.

"Oh Naruto, this isn't even the same topic!" She laughed, and flipped to the table of contents in the front, then flipped about a hundred pages past where Naruto had been, much to her dismay. "Here, try this." She pointed to a paragragh halfways down the page as she flipped the book around for Naruto to see. "The answers for the whole first page are right there." Naruto dropped her head onto the table with a little thud.

"I'm a complete moron. Really." She pulled herself up and pulled the books towards her. Hinata clicked her tongue.

"You're not a moron Naruto. You just always have a lot on your mind and get distracted easily." She scolded her, making Naruto look down.

"Yeah, I guess so. Hey. What are you even doing here? I thought you had class?" Hinata shrugged.

"We're doing a project and my group came here to look up some information. I saw you and decided to come over and see what you were up to." Naruto raised her eyebrows.

"They won't mind?" Hinata shook her head.

"It's Shino and Kiba. Shino doesn't care much at all, and Kiba just made me promise I'd go over to his place this weekend at some point and help." She shrugged again. "So it's fine." Naruto just nodded and looked back down at her work as she wrote down some answers. When she finished the first page, she looked up to see Hinata just texting. She smiled.

"Hey, Hinata? What do you think of Shikamaru?" She wondered aloud. Hinata looked up at her for a moment, before looking back down.

"Why do you ask? Do you guys not get along good?" She asked, oblivious. Naruto rested her chin in her hand, and tapped her pen rythmically on her paper with the other.

"No, we get along okay. I'm just wondering if you mind hanging around with him. Me and Gaara kinda adopted him into the group without saying anything to you." She admitted, smiling sheepishly. Hinata shrugged, and put her phone away.

"It doesn't matter either way. He seems like a nice guy. Really smart too. Very quiet though." She said thoughtfully. Naruto raised an eyebrow at that.

"You're pretty quiet too you know." She pointed out. Hinata blushed.

"Well.. yes, but.." She trailed off. Naruto smiled at her, and she blushed harder.

"I'm just bugging you Hinata." Naruto assured her. Hinata smiled shakily at her, then glanced up over her head, and the colour drained from her face, before she narrowed her eyes into an expression she rarely made. Anger. Naruto paled as she realized who was probably standing behind her. She turned in her seat and looked up, coming face to face with Sasuke. He smiled down at her.

"Hello." He said, stickin his hands in his pockets. She just raised an eyebrow.

"Uhm. Hi Sasuke." He grinned wider. "What's up?" He shrugged, and looked down.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go over that history assignment with me? I'm a little lost, and I don't have all the notes to go with it. Kakashi sensei told me to find someone and borrow their notes." He explained awkwardly, and rubbed at the back of his neck. Naruto's eye softened for a moment, and she looked away from him.

"Uhm. I dunno. I can give you the notes if you want to copy them, but I'm not very good in history. I usually get Gaara to help me, to be honest." She admitted. "Sorry." He smiled gently at her.

"Well, maybe we can work on it together? My work is kinda piling up because the teachers are giving me all the major assignments from September to do. I can't keep up. It'd be nice to have some help." Naruto bit her lip. Hinata narrwowed her eyes at Uchiha. '_Obviously he can tell she's a perosn who loves to help others. This is seriously not going to end well.' _She glanced at the clock, and noticed it was close to noon, and grabbed her bag as she stood up

"Naruto, we better head to the cafeteria if we're going to make it there before Gaara." When Naruto turned to look at her, Sasuke looked annoyed and pouted.

"Ah, yeah I guess so." She stood up and turned to Sasuke to say good bye. She looked up to see him staring at the table. He looked up at her.

"Naruto.. Do you think.. we can be friends?" She frowned, looking thoughtful. Hinata made a face of disgust. _'I hope he doesn't think she'd say yes.. I hope she doesn't say yes..' _Hinata looked over at her worriedly

"I don't know." She seemed a little startled by the sudden topic change. He frowned at this, and he looked back down at the table.

"Well.. you know. I just moved here, and I know what I did the other day was out of line, but you seemed really sweet and approachable, and I.." He trailed off, looking kind of miserable. "I just don't know how to act around people alot of the time. When I was growing up I was homeschooled, and when my mother finally let me enter public schools, people tried to use me when they found out about my money." He paused and looked up at her. "But I thought you seemed different. I've heard around school how unapproachable Sabaku is, and you guys seem to be best friends. And well.. I was wondering if you would.. I've never had one.." She raised an eyebrow, curious.

"Never had what?" Sasuke looked down, not meeting her eyes.

"A real friend.." Her eyes widened, and she almost didn't believe it. Surely he was kidding. She thought about it though, and it kind of made sense. From what she'd heard, he was a child prodigy of sorts, coming from a very wealthy family. Makes sense people would see him for his money and not for himself. She frowned, thinking.

"I could be your friend." She said after a moment. Hinata face-palmed behind them. Sasuke lifted his head then to look at her, and was surprised by her deeply sad eyes. He had been expecting her to lash out and tell him to get lost, that she didn't believe him, but the look in her eyes was actually the one that he used to see in the mirror daily. "I know what it's like to not have anyone. I have a sister, and I have a group of friends here at school, but sometimes when you're surrounded by people that's when you feel the most lonely." He nodded, looking down. "Look. I'm not sure how exactly we're going to do this, because I'm really upset with how you've treated me so far." She held up a hand and stopped him from speaking.

"Gaara's really upset about how you treated me too. And you have to know he's my best friend, and his opinion is the most important to me aside from my sister's. Sometimes he's kind of an idiot when it comes to things like this, so I don't know how we're gonna work around his bias, but you gotta promise you won't keep acting like you have been." She paused, making sure he got the point. "If you can do that, then I'll promise you I'll try to be your friend, okay?" He nodded, looking up at her hopefully.

"So we can be friends if I smarten up?" She nodded.

"But, try not to act so.." She made a vague gesture with her hand. "I don't know.. like you did this morning. It made me really uncomfortable." He smiled kinda apologetically at her.

"Sorry. I guess I picked up some unhealthy habits from my father." She frowned at that, but brushed it off as something to think about later. "I promise I'll be a good friend Naruto." He grinned at her. He looked at the clock then, and noticed it was getting close to lunch. He nodded to Naruto.

"It's almost lunch time. I gotta go talk to Tsunade. I'll see you later, okay?" She nodded and started getting her stuff together. He waved to her and turned to head out of the library. Hinata just stood there gobsmacked. Naruto turned to Hinata, and jumped a bit, shocked to see her pissed off.

"What?" She asked, confused. Hinata's jaw dropped.

"What? WHAT? Did you seriously just ask me that? What happened to 'Why didn't I push him off me'?" She yelled at her. Naruto stepped back, shocked.

"Whoa, calm down Hinata. It's alright, I know what I'm doing." Naruto tried to placate her, walking around the table, but Hinata stepped away.

"Do you really? Do you know what you're getting into? Because I do. And it's not going to end well, that I can promise you." She growled in a dangerous voice, glaring at Naruto before turning and walking out of the library. Naruto fell into Hinata's chair, stunned that she had actually yelled at her. She'd never heard Hinata yell, not even once. She just blinked, and sat there, completely flaberghasted.

"What just happened?"

.

Hinata stormed down the hallway, hands clenched and teth grinding. She was madder then she'd ever been. Furious at Naruto for letting herself get manipulated like that. She was better then that! What was she thinking, saying she'd be his friend? He's obviously just messing around with her. After that display in the classroom the other day, she wouldn't be surprised if he was just trying to get into her pants. She made a disgusted face.

"I don't even know what to say to her right now.." She muttered under her breath. She paused, and winced. "Oh god. What's Gaara gonna say when he finds out?" She wrung her hands and took off down the hall. "Maybe I can head him off before he finds Naruto.. Ah, no. That won't work." She said as she stopped again. "He'll just end up yelling at her. They'll be fighting for a week at least." She put her face in her hands. "Oh gosh. What am I supposed to do?" She wailed.

.

Sasuke peeked out from behind the corner of the hall Hinata was standing in the middle of. He snickered, putting a hand over his mouth so she wouldn't notice. "This is brilliant!" He muttered to himself. "As long as she's distracted with this, I can get some time in with Naruto. I just gotta make sure that redhead and Nara kid stay out of this." He sneered. He watched Hinata fret for a minute before shaking his head. He turned and walked back down the hall chuckling, hands in his pockets. "Perfect."

.

A/N: Ahh. I almost forgot to upload this! I was busy today, and I was thinking I'd do it after supper, but after supper I had to go shopping and then I was out with my best friend, then spent all evening at her place. I got home, and I was gonna shower and go to bed, but then I realized that I'd forgotten this. Holymoley.

Haha, anyways. Here it is. Chapter 10, over 6000 words! :/ I hope you didn't get bored or anything reading this. Like, I wouldn't, but I love love love reading, and I'm a really fast reader, and this is the length I'd like to see an author putting out..

It's probably just me though..

Blah, blah, blah. I know. Get to the point, eh? I just couldn't cut this chapter down. Like, I probably _could_ have, I just liked the way this flowed, you know?

Ah, I'll just go now. Might not upload for a few days, just letting you know. Got a lot of shifts in the next two weeks, and I'm helping my friend move, so I'll probably be tired, and not up to writing much this week. But I will not go and stop writing/uploading for months again like I used to. I seriously have like, 10 more chapters planned out vaguely, and I want this story completely posted by the end of July.

Anyways. That's it. Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening, and Good Night!

Depends where in the world you live. Lol

Until Next time,

Naru Koi.


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